51Թ

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View synonyms for

scare

[skair]

verb (used with object)

scared, scaring 
  1. to fill, especially suddenly, with fear or terror; frighten; alarm.

    What scares me most about the disease is the residual effects on the lungs and heart.

    The ducks scared my sister by flying right toward her.

    Synonyms: ,


verb (used without object)

scared, scaring 
  1. to become frightened.

    That horse scares easily.

noun

  1. a sudden fright or alarm, especially with little or no reason.

    I recently had a scare when my computer seemed to be malfunctioning, but it turned out to be nothing.

  2. a time or condition of alarm or worry.

    During the anthrax scare, people were leery of opening envelopes from addresses they didn't recognize.

verb phrase

  1. to frighten or alarm someone or something so much that they go away and stay away.

    Business leaders felt the fuel tax would scare away consumers fearing higher electricity bills and rising gasoline costs.

    The bee's sting isn't necessarily deadly, but it's painful enough to scare off predators.

  2. Informalto obtain with effort; find or gather.

    We want to renovate the kitchen, but first we'll need to scare up some money.

scare

/ ɛə /

verb

  1. to fill or be filled with fear or alarm

  2. (tr; often foll by away or off) to drive (away) by frightening

  3. informal(tr) (foll by up)

    1. to produce (a meal) quickly from whatever is available

    2. to manage to find (something) quickly or with difficulty

      brewers need to scare up more sales

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a sudden attack of fear or alarm

  2. a period of general fear or alarm

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. causing (needless) fear or alarm

    a scare story

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • scarer noun
  • scaringly adverb
  • ˈ noun
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of scare1

First recorded in 1150–1200; (for the verb) Middle English skerren, from Old Norse skirra “to frighten,” derivative of skjarr “timid, shy”; (for the noun) late Middle English skere, derivative of the verb
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of scare1

C12: from Old Norse skirra; related to Norwegian skjerra, Swedish dialect skjarra
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Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idioms beginning with scare, also see run scared.
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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But that doesn’t mean the film is devoid of scares, oh no.

From

Asked why, she exchanged an exasperated look with the customer, before saying that “la migra” — slang for ICE — was popping up everywhere in the area, scaring off her customers.

From

Instead, they can empathize, telling them, “It makes sense — we are all so scared.”

From

Lundes was scared and had some time to think about his life.

From

“The girl who takes care of my kids is undocumented and she’s scared to leave the house. I have a lot of friends and family in the same boat.”

From

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