scarecrow
/ˈskɛːkrəʊ
/noun
1An object made to resemble a human figure, set up to scare birds away from a field where crops are growing.The purpose of the scarecrow is to scare crows away from your crop, but the crows have grown wise over the years and no longer fear it....
- Designed for reasons other than the shooing of birds, her scarecrows frequently stood inside the yard, beneath trees, in corners of enclosed spaces.
- More than 30 elaborate scarecrows are peering from hedgerows, fields and chimney pots, as part of the annual scarecrow competition.
1.1 informal A person who is very badly dressed, odd-looking, or thin: a gaunt little scarecrow in threadbare workhouse clothes she has reduced herself to a scarecrow [as modifier]: scarecrow tatters...
- It turns out Emeraldas is already there, silently having a drink, and everyone is struck with awe when she pulls back her cloak and they see her scarecrow thin scarred self.
- Maury doffed his fedora and ran a hand through his scarecrow hair and told me that he had lived in terror as a boy because his father was a drunk.
- This will not prevent their ‘discovery’ after the event, but few any longer attach much importance to this tattered scarecrow.
1.2 archaic An object of baseless fear.Most analysts view him as a secret Kremlin stooge who was created as something of a scarecrow in a bid to prompt Western governments to support the more liberal forces of post-Soviet Russia.