startle

Rather than attempting to lure the animals toward the speaker, the researchers played the sounds loudly enough to provoke a startle response.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

Percussion instruments—including a whistle and slap-stick—interrupt and startle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

But when she sees another dog, everything changes: she snarls, barks loud enough to startle a city block, and lunges with so much force it takes all my strength to hold her back.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2025

The next thing Ms Lees knew, the kangaroo had launched towards her car, which she had slowed to a crawl so as not to startle the animal, and started to attack it.

From BBC ● May 23, 2025

It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

More than 60 years on, the scene still startles.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

I am not sure what startles more—that the feat was achieved at all or that it was Mr. Koolhaas’s firm that pulled it off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

What probably startles beginning bromeliad growers most, even after providing diligent care, is the inevitable decline of the original or mother plant after it flowers.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2023

Whether seeing the fear in combatants and civilians alike or observing how societal ills followed young servicemembers to the front, Lagoze startles in his prose just as he did in his 2019 documentary, “Combat Obscura.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2023

He startles, and his foot—missing a sock—strikes something hard and sharp-edged.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone

The difference also appeared across all 37 bird species examined, including easily startled magpies and pigeons that typically allow people to approach much more closely.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

A field of unharvested sunflowers had attracted mixed flocks of birds, especially goldfinches and bramblings, before they were startled into the air by a sparrowhawk.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Black said he was startled, although not totally surprised.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

"The two US deportees looked startled and kept asking which country is this and where it is," said a source.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Ella put a hand on her shoulder, and Brigit startled out of her rage.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

The red, as startling as a cymbal clap, strikes the eye, but the impending drama remains out of sight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

A Russian drone zips across the computer screen, startling the commanders keeping watch over the battlefield via a live stream in their bunker.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Naturally, there’s a startling revelation at the end.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

The private life of disgraced Silicon Valley startup founder Elizabeth Holmes will soon be aired to the public in a startling new documentary filmed in the 34 days before she went to prison.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

As he finished Jack took hold of the knob and gently opened the door, its loud squeaking startling a large blackbird from its perch on the roof.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley