scare

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA ^(key): /skɛə/
• (US) IPA ^(key): /skɛɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

Plain form scare

Third-person singular scares

Past tense scared

Past participle scared

Present participle scaring

1. (transitive) If something scares you, it makes you feel fear.

   They climbed out of the water alive--cold, wet, tired, and scared to death, but alive.

   Granny used to scare the hell out of us kids with her ghost stories.

   I read once that you can scare away a bear if you wave your arms and look big.

   Dark scares me. Noise scares me. And guns scare me.

2. If something scares somebody off, it makes them not want to do something.

   The high costs often scare students off.

3. If you scare up something, you find it, even though it's rare or hard to find.

   She didn't think she'd be able to scare up the cash for the trip.

Synonyms

• worry

Related words

• scared
• scary

Noun

Singular scare

Plural scares

1. (countable) A sudden fright.

   I had quite a bad scare last night--I almost hit a deer on the highway.