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scare
[ skair ]
verb (used with object)
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: intimidate, startle
verb (used without object)
- to become frightened:
That horse scares easily.
noun
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- Informal. to obtain with effort; find or gather:
We want to renovate the kitchen, but first we'll need to scare up some money.
scare
/ skɛə /
verb
- to fill or be filled with fear or alarm
- tr; often foll by away or off to drive (away) by frightening
- informal.tr foll by up
- to produce (a meal) quickly from whatever is available
- to manage to find (something) quickly or with difficulty
brewers need to scare up more sales
noun
- a sudden attack of fear or alarm
- a period of general fear or alarm
adjective
- causing (needless) fear or alarm
a scare story
Derived Forms
- ˈscarer, noun
Other Words From
- scar·er noun
- scar·ing·ly adverb
Word History and Origins
Origin of scare1
Word History and Origins
Origin of scare1
Idioms and Phrases
- run scared
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
"I had to take a deep breath because I was so shocked. There were just rows and rows of mostly elderly, grey, scared looking people."
“This is surreal. I’m very scared now. packing,” Teigen wrote on Instagram stories as the Sunset fire erupted late Wednesday in the Hollywood Hills.
"I was scared to go to the bathroom, I was scared to get a drink. I was scared to leave him. He was so poorly."
Hogg, who was described as being "angry" and "controlling" during the relationship, left his victim scared by his behaviour when he had been drinking.
"I did what he told me to because I was scared what would happen to me, my friends and family," the girl said, adding he demanded indecent pictures of her.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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