different between strawman vs scarecrow

English

Noun

strawman (plural strawmen)

1. Alternative spelling of straw man

Verb

strawman (third-person singular simple present strawmans, present participle strawmanning, simple past and past participle strawmanned)

1. Alternative spelling of straw man
   • 2009 Bits of Organization page 44

     We are also charged with strawmanning Type la. This is 'boomerang misrepresentation' - a disingenuous tactic deployed by writers in an effort to establish the superiority of their own work when all they are really doing is simply repeating

English

Etymology

From scare +? crow. Replaced original shewel from Middle English sheweles, of unclear origin but probably from an unattested Old English form, composed of sc?n +? -els (Old English sc?ewels). Compare Middle Low German sch?welse and Middle High German schiusel. See further at shy. Another replaced term for the thing was shoy-hoy, perhaps imitative of the cry of crows, in addition to bogle.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?sk??k???/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?sk???.k?o?/
• Hyphenation: scare?crow

Noun

scarecrow (plural scarecrows)

1. An effigy, typically made of straw and dressed in old clothes, fixed to a pole in a field to deter birds from eating seeds or crops planted there. [from 1530s]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:scarecrow

2. (figuratively, derogatory) A tall, thin, awkward person.
3. (figuratively) Anything that appears terrifying but presents no danger.
   • 1983, Saskatchewan Law Review (volume 48, page 114)

     The Canada West Foundation dismisses these concerns as "political scarecrows"; fearsome at first glance but irrelevant on closer examination. Unfortunately the problems of an elected Senate cannot be dismissed so easily.

4. A person clad in rags and tatters.
5. (Britain, dialectal) A bird, the black tern.

Alternative forms

• skarcrow (obsolete)

Coordinate terms

• straw man

Derived terms

• scarecrowish
• scarecrowlike

Related terms

• crow scarer
• scarer

Translations

Verb

scarecrow (third-person singular simple present scarecrows, present participle scarecrowing, simple past and past participle scarecrowed)

1. (transitive) To splay rigidly outward, like the arms of a scarecrow.