warn

verb \ ˈwȯrn \

|Updated on: 7 Jun 2018

Examples: warn in a Sentence

Definition of warn

warned; warning; warns

transitive verb

1 a : to give notice to beforehand especially of danger or evil

b : to give admonishing advice to : counsel

c : to call to one's attention : inform

2 : to order to go or stay away —often used with off

intransitive verb

: to give a warning

—

warner

noun

See warn defined for English-language learners

See warn defined for kids

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 of warn from the Web

North Carolina mountain visitors should watch out for trees toppling due to high winds and weeks of heavy rain, the U.S. Forest Service warned Monday.

— joe marusak, charlotteobserver, "NC mountain visitors warned of toppling trees, as part of Blue Ridge Parkway reopens," 4 June 2018
Even some Democrats echo that point, warning their party against hubris.

— NBC News, "California's GOP is collapsing. Is that a sign for Republicans nationwide?," 4 June 2018
Late last week, the Boone County Sheriff's Office, the Lebanon Police Department and the Whitestown Police Department issued a joint statement warning motorists of nine incidents on I-65 between March 21 and May 24.

— justin l. mack, Indianapolis Star, "Trucker suspected of damaging cars with a slingshot on I-74 as similar reports emerge on I-65," 4 June 2018
The New York Times recently published a story warning the public about biohackers who are using CRISPR, a bioengineering tool that lets researchers make tiny and specific edits to DNA.

— daniel grushkin, STAT, "Biohackers are about open-access to science, not DIY pandemics. Stop misrepresenting us," 4 June 2018
New reporting claims that IsHaKdZ, the hacker who has infiltrated and taken down Ticketfly, warned the company via email about the vulnerability before the cyber incident that started on Wednesday night.

— taylor mims, Billboard, "Hacker Claims They Warned Ticketfly About Website Vulnerability, Sought Payment Before Taking Down," 1 June 2018
What did Chewie warn Han that Lando might still be mad about?

— dan gvozden, The Hollywood Reporter, "74 'Star Wars' Questions 'Solo' Insisted on Answering," 1 June 2018
But residents such as Hoff who have received stacks of notices over the years warning about contamination aren't giving up their bottled water any time soon.

— dale kasler, phillip reese and ryan sabalow, sacbee, "360,000 Californians have unsafe drinking water. Are you one of them?," 1 June 2018
Visibility was expected to be a quarter of a mile or less, the weather service warned in a series of early-morning alerts.

— christine dempsey, courant.com, "June Kicks Off With Foggy, Miserable Morning, Followed By Chance Of Thunderstorms," 1 June 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.

Origin and Etymology of 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 ¹ware

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year