scare
to become frightened: That horse scares easily.
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.
scare away / off, 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.
scare up, Informal. to obtain with effort; find or gather: We want to renovate the kitchen, but first we'll need to scare up some money.
Origin of scare
1synonym study For scare
Other words for scare
Other words from scare
- scar·er, noun
- scar·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for scare
/ (skɛə) /
to fill or be filled with fear or alarm
(tr; often foll by away or off) to drive (away) by frightening
(tr) US and Canadian informal (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
a sudden attack of fear or alarm
a period of general fear or alarm
causing (needless) fear or alarm: a scare story
Origin of scare
1Derived forms of scare
- scarer, noun
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with scare
In addition to the idioms beginning with scare
- scare out of one's wits
- scare up
also see:
- run scared
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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