Definition of WARN

Examples of warn in a Sentence

I had been warned about the difficulties of the job. She warned me that the stove was still hot. “This won't be easy,” he warned. Nobody warned me about the dangers. I warned him to be careful, but he didn't listen to me. She warned us not to go too close to the fire.

Recent Examples on the Web

Clooney used the opportunity to defend Markle, and to warn that history may be repeating itself. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "George Clooney Says Meghan Markle Is Being "Vilified," Just Like Princess Diana Was," 12 Feb. 2019 It's outfitted with threat-detection equipment designed to warn against ground threats, new navigation, communications, and countermeasures equipment, and an advanced fire-control system. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Watch a AC-130 Gunship Devastate Targets on the Ground with Its Howitzer," 16 Jan. 2019 And Taiwan is building a system that will be able to predict air quality, allowing city managers to warn residents of health dangers and work to lessen what the data tells them will be the worst of the impacts. — Dan Rosenbaum, Ars Technica, "All hail the AI overlord: Smart cities and the AI Internet of Things," 7 Dec. 2018 Imitators have been trying so hard to rip off Charles and Ray's designs, that in the 1950s, the couple put a full page advertisement in Arts and Architecture magazine to warn people. — Danielle Tullo, House Beautiful, "How To Spot A Genuine Eames Chair," 25 Sep. 2018 The American Academy of Pediatrics and many experts warn against institutionalizing children in large groups. — Garance Burke, The Seattle Times, "AP Investigation: Migrant kids held in mass shelters," 19 Dec. 2018 Be warned: This is not Ina Garten's Thanksgiving dinner. — Ella Cerón, Teen Vogue, "Gavin Leatherwood Bastes a Turkey in Netflix's Thanksgiving Spot," 21 Nov. 2018 The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the plaintiffs, holding that a jury might conclude that the FDA rejected Merck’s proposed label warning because of a semantic disagreement. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Fighting a Tort Plague," 6 Jan. 2019 The shaking often alerts people and warning systems to be on the lookout for the movement of water towards or away from the coast. — Mary Beth Griggs, The Verge, "Deadly Indonesian tsunami was not caused by an earthquake," 23 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'warn.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for warn

Middle English warnen, going back to Old English wearnian, warnian "to be on one's guard, make aware, put on one's guard," going back to West Germanic *warnōjan- (whence Middle Dutch waernen "to provide with, give notice of a danger," Old High German warnōn), probably causative derivative of Germanic *wara- "cognizant, watchful" — more at ware entry 1

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