set off alarm bells

set off alarm bells

To cause concern due to being an indication that there is something wrong. The new report set off alarm bells among the board members because it forecasts a large decrease in enrollment. If your date asks you to meet in a secluded place, it should set off alarm bells.
See also: alarm, bell, off, set
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • set alarm bells ringing
  • alarm bells start to ring
  • alarm bells start ringing
  • raise the alarm
  • sound the alarm
  • alarm
  • alarm bell
  • bring (one) up with a start
  • bell
  • bring up sharply
References in periodicals archive
Imran says Modi government's 'ethnic cleansing' should set off alarm bells across the world
"The IPCC report issued a clarion call across the economy and set off alarm bells for many investors concerned with the long-term viability of their holdings in the power sector," said Dan Bakal, senior director of electric power at Ceres.
The uptick in the country's May inflation rate is a circumstance that does not set off alarm bells, Malacanang said Thursday.
With their constant calls for investment in British infrastructure, one imagines that business groups - at least - set off alarm bells - will be giving Javid's plan the thumbs-up this morning.
"Vietnam's alleged secret forced return to Thailand of three prominent activists should set off alarm bells in the international community," Human Rights Watch Asia Director Brad Adams said.
They said the reports that Yasin Malik is being ill-treated in jail have set off alarm bells among the masses across Jammu and Kashmir.
HYDERABAD -- The deplorable condition of sewage drains and lack of sanitation in Hyderabad have recently set off alarm bells after water samples collected from different parts of the city turned out to be infested with dangerous viruses.
Muscat: The increase in industrial waste has set off alarm bells among environmentalists, with growing calls to protect the environment by adopting better waste management practices.
Tribune News Service IN ordinary times, a president's decision to replace his attorney general halfway through his term wouldn't set off alarm bells about possible obstruction of justice.
A day earlier, FIA's cyber-crime chief set off alarm bells as he revealed that customers' data from 'almost all major Pakistani banks' was stolen in a recent security breach.
The FIA's cyber-crime chief set off alarm bells on Tuesday when he said that customers' data from "almost all major Pakistani banks" was stolen in the security breach, after a recent report from Group-IB, a global cyber security firm, claimed that hackers had released a new dump of Pakistani credit and debit cards on dark web forums.
A day earlier, FIA's cyber-crime chief set off alarm bells as he revealed that customers' data from "almost all major Pakistani banks" was stolen in a recent security breach.
"The fact that Vice President Pence did not immediately answer 'absolutely' when asked if nuclear weapons 'should always be banned from space' should set off alarm bells," Grego said.
ambassador to NATO set off alarm bells Tuesday when she suggested that the United States might "take out" Russian missiles that U.S.
"This kind of performance set off alarm bells for me as a captain and for the team overall.