How To Use Startle In A Sentence

  • In her house apron and with her hair a little ruffled she looked younger, startled and then angry. THE WHITE DOVE
  • She was obviously a little startled at this idea.
  • The door bell rang again and both girls were startled by the sudden ringing sound that seemed a hundred times louder then usual.
  • Now the girl is also changing, consuming everything with such rapaciousness that it startles him. Until the Heart Stops Beating
  • Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.
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  • Her article on diet startled many people into changing their eating habits.
  • The opening door woke Roger, startled Patrick and gave the cat an unwonted and sudden attack of conscience. MIDNIGHT IS A LONELY PLACE
  • I was startled at the news that 129 persons were killed last Sunday in the attempt by rebel air force officers to overthrow the government in the capital.
  • As I pressed through the thick underwood, I startled a strange-looking apparition in one of the open spaces beside the gulf, where, as shown by the profusion of plants of _vaccinium_, the blaeberries had greatly abounded in their season. The Cruise of the Betsey or, A Summer Ramble Among the Fossiliferous Deposits of the Hebrides. With Rambles of a Geologist or, Ten Thousand Miles Over the Fossiliferous Deposits of Scotland
  • Serena and I both pulled back, startled, and then watched in awe as they both started laughing.
  • A masculine voice inquired from somewhere to her left, effectively scaring the living daylights out of Sydney and drawing a startled yelp from her lips.
  • Options B and D are not correct as the word 'aback' means to get startled by something and does not means the same as the word 'back' which is used in the answer choices B and D. LearnHub Activities
  • But my poor blear eyes like a bat's, startled me at my shadow on the flagstones. Chapter 22
  • He winced at her startled, horrified gasp and continued.
  • Japanese the type of permanence up to a generation ago, when he suddenly awoke and startled the world with a rejuvenescence the like of which the world had never seen before. The Yellow Peril
  • Startled, she looked around for the blue dragon and saw it flying around and snapping at the insects around it.
  • Then what sounded like tennis shoes swishing through shallow water (I never had the courage to swim in water more than a foot deep) startled me.
  • A mouse started out as I went into the cave, which startled me.
  • I was startled when Cassie described almost smashing a vase over Brian's head because he was irritating her, but she successfully checked her violent reaction.
  • He found himself making his way along a rocky crest when a sudden rustling in the brush startled him.
  • He was startled by the rare sound of the buzzer at the front door and he left his coffee behind and went into the anteroom. THE SERPENT'S MARK
  • The deer startle easily.
  • Paige was startled out of his musings by a particularly hard poke to his back.
  • It startled the three spellbound students when Dan took a step backwards into their small closed circle.
  • The elderly male (for anthropoids, like anthropoi, wax fierce and surly with increasing years) will fight, but only from fear, when suddenly startled, or with rage when slightly wounded. Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo
  • Once, she said, as she stood in shallow water in her high-necked, skirted, black bathing suit, a long-nosed garpike swam across her toes and startled her.
  • The overloud ringing of the phone startled him out of his chair.
  • There were still others where the notion frothed and foamed, turning up unexpected ideas, revealing depths of dissatisfaction, of desire, of unsuspected powers in woman that startled the staid old world. The Business of Being a Woman
  • I saw one group of traders run off like a startled herd, humping their bags of bags, while three police, like a pack of hunting dogs, scragged the least nimble.
  • A rap on my door startled me from an attempt at some recuperative sleep.
  • You leap up and pull one of the startled men into the coffin until you're ready for him.
  • He was gazing idly at the baroque Italian candelabra in the painted dome above his head and reflecting how much more jolly it would have been if the posturing Loves and gilded amoretti had been replaced by lifelike models of the Board of Directors, when a subdued feminine voice in his ear startled him to attention. Sweet Danger
  • She was startled out of her reverie by a loud crash.
  • I was startled out of my dream state when a pair of mergansers flapped their way down along the creek's surface, turning skyward in front of me like training jets.
  • She jumped back like a startled rabbit.
  • There is an instant change from mild anger and heavy annoyance to startled astonishment and disbelief.
  • He was startled to behold their beauty, and at once felt a rush of love for these creatures, blessing them as the only other living things in his damnable world.
  • Her mother looked up as if startled, then shook her head and returned her attention back to her mending.
  • She looked startled and gazed at me with a terrified fascination. DEAD BEAT
  • Startled onlookers saw officers arm themselves and take up positions in front of the house.
  • When four months pregnant the mother, a multipara of 30, was startled by a black and white collie dog suddenly pushing against her and rushing out when she opened the door. Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 5 Erotic Symbolism; The Mechanism of Detumescence; The Psychic State in Pregnancy
  • When you get back into the car, the loudness of the radio startles you.
  • If it can startle the predator in some way, there is a faint chance that the enemy may panic and flee.
  • The startled barbarian grappled reflexively, neglecting the weapons that hung at his waist.
  • She growled again, and a startled yipe followed when her jaw snapped. Touch of Evil
  • The foxhead grew colder still, and Tuon made a startled sound. Knife of Dreams
  • Lee shifts his feet, startled at the giddy look in Wesley's rheumy eyes.
  • But Joanna merely smiled, and then startled Enid by giving her an utterly inappropriate hug. HERE BE DRAGONS
  • She was concentrating on her book and his voice startled her.
  • Startled, I jerked my hand away, smacking my head on one of the upper deck's support beams in the process.
  • We were all startled by the transformation, as if a man had risen from the dead.
  • Bates was rather startled by seeing one fly directly at his face, on which it had espied a motuca, and which it carried off, holding it tightly to its breast. The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America
  • students startled by the teacher's quiet return
  • A little farther on he was startled by a sudden rush as something bounded away from close to his feet; and, as he stood breathing hard, he could hear it go on _pat, pat, pat, pat_, right away, till the sounds died out. The New Forest Spy
  • The term seemed so personal that I was startled and then I realized that Ian was one of those continental smoothies who probably called every coat-check girl “darling.” Haunted Honeymoon
  • The voice, once again, startles her back to reality.
  • It startled me to find her sitting in my office.
  • The slo-mo frames, the two-handed shooting and even the perennially startled doves are all there.
  • Because he was waiting, he was startled when the interphone buzzed. I Don’t Understand ?
  • Her article on diet startled many people into changing their eating habits.
  • But her fearful soul hasn't shut down: vide her visible delight in the pagan abandon with which her beautiful child solo-dances - to Alanis Morissette's ‘You Oughta Know’ - beside a corral full of startled emus.
  • Dann's voice startles me, the lights glaring on, painfully.
  • That night, on a hunch, he returns with a flashlight, and, proving once again why he was made head gardener, manages to startle a gorging gray horde of sweet-toothed woodmice.
  • He was startled suddenly out of his deep thoughts by the clop of hooves.
  • She aimed the loaded pistol at the officer who looked up with a startled expression.
  • A startled security worker noticed the shape of a child on the carry-on baggage screening monitor and immediately pulled him out, the Los Angeles Times reported for a story in Wednesday's editions.
  • With a startled cry of fear he leaped aside, his pack falling to the path with a crash of metal, and his left hand whipped out the long, thin dagger at his waist. Quakers in Spain
  • The sight so startled him that he finally lost control, doing a painful bellyflop that threw up a cascade of water.
  • The noise startled him, and he slid into a side skid.
  • Those that had been old in adulteries, and long fixed in a proud opinion of themselves, were here, even the oldest of them, startled by the word of Christ; even scribes and Pharisees, who were most conceited of themselves, are by the power of Christ's word made to retire with shame. Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V (Matthew to John)
  • She was momentarily startled by the sight before her.
  • Startled by the wraithlike words, I stumbled back. Mercy Kill
  • She was startled and looked up to see that the man was dressed in all black with a hood on his face.
  • You were not startled to see a gigantic piece of toast used as a billboard hyping up a new show on The Discovery Channel.
  • Music up, he thought with a bitterness that startled him, Roll credits. DOLL'S EYES
  • Startled by the torchlight, their shallow caprine eyes gazed back in fear and incomprehension at the source.
  • The reputed beauty and the prodigious length and weight of the hair of Absalom, the son of David, as recorded in the sacred text, would be sufficient to startle the most enthusiastic modern dandy that cultivates the crinal ornament of his person. The Ladies Book of Useful Information Compiled from many sources
  • And when he looked up and out he was startled to see a people so numerous on the seashore that he thought for a moment they were nkrane, the black ants he had detoured a hundred strides before.
  • I was startled at the news that 129 persons were killed last Sunday in the attempt by rebel air force officers to overthrow the government in the capital.
  • I can understand that people in a dangerous neck of the woods might feel the need to own a weapon, but the part of the Goldberg quote thatstartled me most was the reference to "subcontracting" his safety to the police. John Terry’s sacking as England captain tells us something interesting...
  • Only the cry of a diving night-bird startled the stillness of the tranquil air; a rapacious filcher that quickly rose, and swept onward through the sea of night. Under the Rose
  • If it can startle the predator in some way, there is a faint chance that the enemy may panic and flee.
  • A catlike purple creature startled the gnome into standing up.
  • Many were killed because a rope might break or because a climber could be startled by the sudden appearance of a furious bird.
  • A giant, brass French bulldog sculpture ablaze in a riot of punk-rock, lacquered hues greeted initially startled guests who ultimately had to comply that the invitation had, after all, read, "Qui est Doggy John? Anisha Lakhani: Manhattan Medici: A Renaissance of Art, Design, and Innovation During NY Design Week 2011
  • It was like a fine mask, suddenly startled, made angry, and petrified.
  • It is uncorked spiritual white lightning that startles and electrifies, as opposed to bottled white lightning that dulls the senses. The Bushman Way of Tracking God
  • Startled females may also lose the opportunity to mate with more intensely displaying, preferred males.
  • I was startled at the news that 129 persons were killed last Sunday in the attempt by rebel air force officers to overthrow the government in the capital.
  • We had only robed ourselves in looser drapery, when a violent ringing at the bell startled us; we listened, and heard the voice of M. d'Arblay, and Jerry answering, 'They're gone to bed.' Juniper Hall: A Rendezvous of Certain Illustrious Personages during the French Revolution, Including Alexandre D'Arblay and Fanny Burney
  • Merlin alights from Siege Perilous -- one of the chair from the Round Table -- and is startled to discover he's been asleep for 1500 years. The WritingYA Weblog: Merlin Revisited: The Seventh Chair
  • James was startled by the sudden intrusion and quickly stood up by the foot of the bed.
  • The first delicate white toothworts appear in the woods at the end of January, and the bold yellow acacia blooms suddenly startle us in the first days of February.
  • I was startled by a rapid movement to my left.
  • I believe I startled a great many innocent Canadians, some perhaps as far away as Vancouver, with my unrestrained whoop of delight.
  • A knock on the door startled Namura and she gave an involuntary jump.
  • Jinx was startled to note that the horizon of the infinite plane wobbled unsteadily for a moment.
  • Only yesterday a case of shinju startled this quiet city. Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan First Series
  • With both hands she shoved the blade back and side-kicked the startled man forcefully, crushing him against an unoffending door.
  • The air was damp and chill, she was sitting on a cold stone step, and a loud "kerchoo" suddenly startled the two plotters on the porch. The Spartan Twins
  • The students began to enter the classroom and Anna was startled at their loudness.
  • I was, however, startled to find that such business forms, printed in Saragossa, were being used in the Jiloca region by the early 1600s. Like Wheat to the Miller: Community, Convivencia, and the Construction of Morisco Identity in Sixteenth-Century Aragon
  • David appeared startled and looked from the spreading ripples on the lake towards the trees where Adam crouched hidden. LOST SUMMER
  • A horse's startled nicker made him freeze and look up.
  • The lecturer shot off a pistol as a demonstration of the startle response.
  • Mr. Dempster was not disposed to encourage her confidence; her strange inquiries about people he had been greatly interested in, recalled the seance which had so much startled Francis Hogarth, and he suspected that this must be the person who had written the letter the spirit had been questioned about, and, consequently, that she was Hogarth's mother; no mother, certainly, to be proud of! Mr. Hogarth's Will
  • Are the young ones always knock-knees with feet splayed inward, or is that just the defensive stance when startled by sketch artists in the wild? This Week's Pattern Story (and sale) - A Dress A Day
  • The "ruched" young woman jabs the air again, looks around, and startles. Camy's Loft
  • This boldness of the consul, and the numerousness of his army, double theirs, startled the Carthaginians; but The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans
  • He removed a tumor ‘from the nates of a little girl that would startle the surgeons in this part of the world with all their tact and science.’
  • As her scythe moved mechanically through the bean field, a sandy-colored hare was startled out of its hiding place.
  • Suddenly she sat bolt upright as if something had startled her.
  • He was startled by their angry reaction to his innocent remark.
  • In the end, though, I would be startled if a revote was the ruling of the panel. Is Coleman Aiming for a Do-Over Election?
  • There was a moment of awkward silence until a phone ringing made them all jump, then they laughed, embarrassed that they were so easily startled.
  • At daybreak, Doune woke with a startled jolt of fear, looking around and telling himself it was only a dream.
  • The students began to enter the classroom and Anna was startled at their loudness.
  • A sharp tap on the ground in front of the dog's legs startles him without scaring him.
  • The masked men attacking him turned to give me a startled look before they were blasted into the air by some invisible force that seemed to flow from inside of me.
  • Charlie had almost dozed off into a restless sleep when Richie's voice startled him out of his slumberous state.
  • He was startled by their angry reaction to his innocent remark.
  • She doesn't preach or exhort or alarm; she startles you into action.
  • But if something startles the deer and they begin to run, the whole herd of cows galumphs behind them until they reach the fence.
  • They were startled by the sound of a young woman in a bridal gown, sitting by the stream, crying softly.
  • But one day, two years after his wedding, while lounging in a deckchair, shelling peanuts on an October afternoon, Sharma was startled by a premonition.
  • What startled Charles the most was the small golden crown the woman wore.
  • Nor was he enraptured by "the small change of Oxford evenings", and he was startled by the erratic inebriety of such celebrated Oxonians as Richard Cobb, although he shared Cobb's disdain for the uncritical Francophilia of so many of their colleagues. Tony Judt obituary
  • Eventually the human volunteers exhibited a startle response upon seeing the first spider without the pain stimulus being administered.
  • A startled squeak came from the box the two of them were standing over as Golin seemed to awaken from an unrestful sleep.
  • One vision, specially clear and unreasonable, for he had not even been conscious of noting it, was the face of the youth cleaning the gun; its intent, stolid, yet startled uplook at the kitchen doorway, quickly shifted to the girl carrying the cider jug. Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works
  • So we see among wild beasts, the intractable and least tamable are the most timorous and most easily startled; the nobler creatures, whose courage makes them trustful, are ready to respond to the advances of men. The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans
  • The explosion would either freeze the creature or startle her forward. MINUTES TO BURN
  • I am the voice of a little girl clutching her expensive beaded purse. and applying glossy chardonnay lipstick over and over because I like the hypnotically soothing way it feels, a rhythym of comfort. a smooth frost over curved hills and I like feeling. trying to remember the sensations I once loved. in the midst of sleep, swimming in the silk fabric of luxurious bedding, sometimes I am startled by the accidental touch of my own hand, brushing against the dipped hollow of my alabaster back, and the softness makes me inhale sharply ~because I remember~ because, I still remember your breath warming my dreams. Wendchymes Diary Entry
  • Startled, his involuntarymovement made Avatre go into a sideslip, and he looked down over her shoulder. Aerie
  • A loud bang accompanied with boisterous laughter startled her out from her thoughts and she groaned to herself.
  • Janet Alder, the sister of the late Christopher Alder who died in police custody, startled me with her northern accent at first.
  • We banked, passing a startled flock of Canada geese, and I felt her laugh against me, felt the sheer joy that suffused her, just as it suffused me when I flew, and my arms tightened imperceptibly, holding her even closer, somehow wanting to absorb her into my bones. Raziel
  • Felicity and Cecily were setting out a lunch in the pantry when we were all startled by a loud groan from the sofa. The Story Girl
  • Being overanxious to beat Jeremy, I took off after the first noise I heard, and startled a couple of field mice.
  • I startle myself when I wrap my arms around Shane's neck, pulling myself forward towards the edge of the car as I do so.
  • Sheen resembles a startled gosling that's just crawled out of Charles Bukowski's left nostril or a haunted scarecrow from a Stephen King story. Idolising bad boys makes Charlies of us all | Barbara Ellen
  • He startled her and made her spill her drink.
  • Startled, he paused for a moment before picking up the receiver.
  • A deafening bray shattered the dark, and the forest erupted in front of him with a clishmaclaver of crashing and startled shouts. A Breath of Snow and Ashes
  • Lieut. Balfour, 72nd Regiment, pursued him into the bush, the former keeping up, the latter down the stream, when Southey was suddenly startled by an assagai striking the stone or cliff on which he was climbing. The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B.
  • The human was startled to find the Vulcan contemplating her from across the room with an expression of uncharacteristic warmth. Dwellers in the Crucible
  • Nor did he fail to startle and thrill to a dazzlement of smile and teeth and eye that frequently lived its life in her face. CHAPTER X
  • A tiny rill meandered beneath a stone slab and as I crossed this a lurking moorhen was startled into headlong escape downstream, soon hidden beneath a golden tangle of overhanging gorse. Country diary: North Derbyshire
  • He stated that the raw feeling of the emotions that brought him to tears is what startled him the most.
  • Less than a hundred days into his pontificate, the new Pope John XXIII startled most of the world by announcing his intention to convoke an ecumenical council.
  • She was startled back to the present when the car began its bumpy ascent up the brick drive to her grandmother's house.
  • He observed Michelle carefully for a moment and was startled to find that she seemed to be telling the truth.
  • I started reading, flipping through the pages, startled at my own memory for the things we both wrote about.
  • It took me a few startled moments to realise that it was my mobile phone. THE EXECUTION
  • A flock of birds took flight, startled by his voice.
  • Footsteps overhead startled her before she realized Daffyd must have gone upstairs by now.
  • But, I was startled half to death when I pulled out a skimpy, red-white-and-blue two-piece spandex suit with a bikini-cut bottom and extra-low neck.
  • She was startled at his sudden vanishment, but then realized there must be another hidden back door, and reminded herself that Pasgen had ruled Caer Mordwyn for several years. Ill Met By Moonlight
  • The startled boy froze for an instant, then fled.
  • But one day, two years after his wedding, while lounging in a deckchair, shelling peanuts on an October afternoon, Sharma was startled by a premonition.
  • He walked slowly toward the door, peeped through an enlarged crack in the hinge side, and stepped back, startled.
  • Startled, Peter struggled to break free, but suddenly there were knives all around him and he was held down.
  • The flagrancy is what startles.
  • I didn't mean to startle you.
  • I am startled by your wild eyed face darkened with the moko.
  • Billy?" he demanded, with a savageness that startled her. A WICKED WOMAN
  • Startled, they all plopped themselves into chairs or pouffes.
  • Nur al-Din sensed that there was something and awoke; then, seeing the very man of whom Miriam had warned him sitting by his side, cried out at him with a great cry which startled him. The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night
  • In that time I have seen: startled wallabies bouncing into the distance kingfishers, tui, rosella, warblers wekas.
  • The simple reaction that "he must be wrong" because his findings surprise or even startle is simple establishment bias. Richard Vedder, Sounding Reasonable, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
  • He has scars where a startled lion chomped his chest, puncturing a lung. Banished by Bolivia, Circus Animals Find a Home on Colorado Range
  • Eileen was deep in concentration, and the sudden appearance of her daughter startled her.
  • As you carefully squat down and try to relax a snake suddenly comes slithering through the weeds and startles you.
  • Reining his horse up beside Barranca he ground hitched him hoping that nothing would startle the gelding.
  • The startled horse bucked again and let out a whinny as the rider held tight to the reigns and tugged back.
  • It was only the lightest touch; and instantly, suddenly, as if startled by the chill contact, the azure flutterer rose again. Children of the Wild
  • The tidiest wing performance of the day came in West Ham's 1-0 win over Barnsley: a plucky, startled moggy somehow finding itself inside Upton Park, running the length of the pitch, doing a few step-overs then disappearing into the crowd. Saturday Sundae: Jordan Rhodes's four-midable form continues
  • I was startled by a great patch of vivid scarlet on the ground, and going up to it found it to be a peculiar fungus, branched and corrugated like a foliaceous lichen, but deliquescing into slime at the touch; and then in the shadow of some luxuriant ferns I came upon an unpleasant thing, — the dead body of a rabbit covered with shining flies, but still warm and with the head torn off. The Island of Doctor Moreau
  • Startled into silence, I watched as it cleaned my cousin in a basin and swaddled her in a cloth before handing her to my father, the Clan's head, waiting outside.
  • The witness of the Spirit in the believer himself to his own sonship is not here expressed, but follows as a consequence of believing the witness of God to Jesus 'divine Sonship. believeth not God -- credits not His witness. made him a liar -- a consequence which many who virtually, or even avowedly, do not believe, may well startle back from as fearful blasphemy and presumption (1Jo 1: 10). believeth not the record -- Greek, "believeth not IN the record, or witness. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
  • His mighty "A-choon!" startled the Queen of Sheba almost as it startled Prudence. Sheila of Big Wreck Cove A Story of Cape Cod
  • The constant noise continually startled Gracie and Leah's work.
  • Border Collies have a high startle reflex, which can sometimes endanger their lives.
  • The alarm clock startles you out of blissful alcoholic slumber and thrusts you into a nightmare world of pain and regret.
  • Startled, I released a sharp yelp and quickly took a step back.
  • The speed of the cat startled the dog and she woofed lunging forward.
  • Then both brothers startled as the engine room hatchway grated open, the metal protesting as it had to be forced.
  • One of the advantages to having published, in fiction, only vignettes, is the difficulty in reasonably fearing I'll complete lose an audience if ever called upon to read...though I don't recall reading any fiction before an actually present audience* since reading Borges's "Los dos reyes y los dos laberintos" before my senior-year highschool Spanish class, they as startled as the teacher that they could follow it. ConDFW
  • I jumped, startled by the sound of someone banging on the door.
  • A startled cheer erupted from the crowd.
  • Taking it back into the living room, I open to the first page and am startled to see my name printed there. Take Me There
  • I was startled by the severity and virulence with which he delivered the sentence at the end of the trial.
  • Caked in cracked dirt and seeping sweat, crawling on all fours, suffocating from the heat, and trying to avoid startled lizards and bats, I cannot help but feel that I am glad they widened the tunnels for us.
  • the sudden fluttering of the startled pigeons
  • Researchers first assumed startles were needed to arouse an infant beginning to experience respiratory distress.
  • The sepulchral boom of the bittern, the shriek of the curlew, the scream of passing brent, the wrangling of quarrelsome teal, the sharp, querulous protest of the startled crane, and syllabled complaint of the "killdeer" plover, were beyond the power of written expression. Selected Stories of Bret Harte
  • From behind blocky horn-rimmed glasses he blinked out at the world like a perpetually startled and slightly confused owl.
  • The effects of unpleasant stimulation are presumed to enhance the startle reflex through evocation of learned or innate responses in the amygdala.
  • Kim Kardashian: we am in startle that [Brittany] Murphy has died! Murphy Remembered, Underwood Engaged, Tila Pregnant, & More ...
  • They burst in on the somewhat startled signalman who was puzzled by the dramatic appearance of the two familiar faces.

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