From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
warning
adj : serving to warn; "shook a monitory finger at him"; "an
exemplary jail sentence" [syn: admonitory,
cautionary, exemplary, monitory, {warning(a)}]
n 1: a message informing of danger
2: cautionary advice about something imminent (especially
imminent danger) [syn: admonition, monition, {word of
advice}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Warn \Warn\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Warned; p. pr. & vb. n.
Warning.] [OE. warnen, warnien, AS. warnian, wearnian, to
take heed, to warn; akin to AS. wearn denial, refusal, OS.
warning, wernian, to refuse, OHG. warnen, G. warnen to warn,
OFries. warna, werna, Icel. varna to refuse; and probably to
E. wary. ????.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To make ware or aware; to give previous information to; to
give notice to; to notify; to admonish; hence, to notify
or summon by authority; as, to warn a town meeting; to
warn a tenant to quit a house. "Warned of the ensuing
fight." --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
Cornelius the centurion . . . was warned from God by
an holy angel to send for thee. --Acts x. 22.
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Who is it that hath warned us to the walls? --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. To give notice to, of approaching or probable danger or
evil; to caution against anything that may prove
injurious. "Juturna warns the Daunian chief of Lausus'
danger, urging swift relief." --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
3. To ward off. [Obs.] --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Warning \Warn"ing\, a.
Giving previous notice; cautioning; admonishing; as, a
warning voice.
[1913 Webster]
That warning timepiece never ceased. --Longfellow.
[1913 Webster]
Warning piece, Warning wheel (Horol.), a piece or wheel
which produces a sound shortly before the clock strikes.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Warning \Warn"ing\, n.
1. Previous notice. "At a month's warning." --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
A great journey to take upon so short a warning.
--L'Estrange.
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2. Caution against danger, or against faults or evil
practices which incur danger; admonition; monition.
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Could warning make the world more just or wise.
--Dryden.
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