scare
scare /sk'eər/ (scares scaring scared)
1 [VERB] V n, V n adj, it V n to-inf
If something scares you, it frightens or worries you.
You're scaring me...
The prospect of failure scares me rigid...
It scared him to realise how close he had come to losing everything.
= frighten
[PHRASE] V inflects
If you want to emphasize that something scares you a lot, you can say that it scares the hell out of you or scares the life out of you.
2 [N-SING]
If a sudden unpleasant experience gives you a scare, it frightens you.
Don't you realize what a scare you've given us all?...
We got a bit of a scare.
3 [N-COUNT] oft n N
A scare is a situation in which many people are afraid or worried because they think something dangerous is happening which will affect them all.
...the doctor at the centre of an Aids scare...
4 [N-COUNT] usu n N
A bomb scare or a security scare is a situation in which there is believed to be a bomb in a place.
Despite many recent bomb scares, no one has yet been hurt.
= alert
5
see also scaredscare away
see scare off 1scare off
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you scare off or scare away a person or animal, you frighten them so that they go away.
...an alarm to scare off an attacker.
...the problem of scaring birds away from airport runways.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, V P n (not pron)
If you scare someone off, you accidentally make them unwilling to become involved with you.
I don't think that revealing your past to your boyfriend scared him off...
The new Democratic Party is not likely to scare off voters.
= put offscare sto|ry (scare stories)
[N-COUNT]
A scare story is something that is said or written to make people feel frightened and think that a situation is much more unpleasant or dangerous than it really is.
He described talk of sackings as scare stories.scare up
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you scare up something, you provide, produce, or obtain it, often when it is difficult to do so or when you do not have many resources. (mainly AM INFORMAL)
An all-star game might scare up a little interest...
1 [VERB] V n, V n adj, it V n to-inf
If something scares you, it frightens or worries you.
You're scaring me...
The prospect of failure scares me rigid...
It scared him to realise how close he had come to losing everything.
= frighten
[PHRASE] V inflects
If you want to emphasize that something scares you a lot, you can say that it scares the hell out of you or scares the life out of you.
2 [N-SING]
If a sudden unpleasant experience gives you a scare, it frightens you.
Don't you realize what a scare you've given us all?...
We got a bit of a scare.
3 [N-COUNT] oft n N
A scare is a situation in which many people are afraid or worried because they think something dangerous is happening which will affect them all.
...the doctor at the centre of an Aids scare...
4 [N-COUNT] usu n N
A bomb scare or a security scare is a situation in which there is believed to be a bomb in a place.
Despite many recent bomb scares, no one has yet been hurt.
= alert
5
see also scaredscare away
see scare off 1scare off
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you scare off or scare away a person or animal, you frighten them so that they go away.
...an alarm to scare off an attacker.
...the problem of scaring birds away from airport runways.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, V P n (not pron)
If you scare someone off, you accidentally make them unwilling to become involved with you.
I don't think that revealing your past to your boyfriend scared him off...
The new Democratic Party is not likely to scare off voters.
= put offscare sto|ry (scare stories)
[N-COUNT]
A scare story is something that is said or written to make people feel frightened and think that a situation is much more unpleasant or dangerous than it really is.
He described talk of sackings as scare stories.scare up
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron)
If you scare up something, you provide, produce, or obtain it, often when it is difficult to do so or when you do not have many resources. (mainly AM INFORMAL)
An all-star game might scare up a little interest...