Figures made of straw or other materials designed to look like a person, placed in fields to frighten away birds and protect crops.
From scare (to frighten) + crow (the bird). The compound word literally means 'something to scare crows away.' Dating back centuries, it's one of the oldest agricultural tools.
Scarecrows are so ineffective that birds eventually realize they're fake, which is why farmers have to rotate them or make them move—it's like birds learn the trick and call the bluff.
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