scarecrow Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an effigy in the shape of a man to frighten birds away from seeds
    scarer; bird-scarer; strawman; straw man.

WordNet

Scare"crow` noun
Definitions
  1. Anything set up to frighten crows or other birds from cornfields; hence, anything terifying without danger.
    A scarecrow set to frighten fools away. Dryden.
  2. A person clad in rags and tatters.
    No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I'll not march with them through Coventry, that's flat. Shak.
  3. (Zoöl.) The black tern. Prov. Eng.

Webster 1913