† scaren.1
Obsolete.
Scorn, derision, contempt.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > [noun]
scornc1175
scarec1275
disdainc1290
forhoghta1300
despite1340
unworthhead1340
unworthness1340
despising1382
byscorn1387
contempta1393
daina1400
dedignationc1400
vilityc1430
despisec1440
contemption1467
lightliness1479
despection1482
misprisement1483
misprizing1485
contemnment1502
fastidie1536
misprize1590
misprision1592
sdeign1595
misprisal1596
despisement1603
disesteem1603
disestimation1619
despiciency1623
despect1624
disopinion1625
under-opinion1629
despisal1650
parvipension1675
sneer1791
misesteem1832
despication1837
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14746 He talde heom Godes leore and duden him to scare.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10351 Iswencheð us sære folke to scare.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2910 Þanne we heonne i-sunde farren. ure frenden to scare [c1300 Otho to sonde].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
scaren.2
/skɛː/, U.S. /skɛ(ə)r/ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of terror or horror > [noun] > terror
grurec900
awec1175
dreadc1200
fearlaca1225
ferdc1330
ferdlac1340
gastnessc1374
tremorc1374
dreadnessa1400
ferdshipa1400
scarea1400
dreadfulnessc1440
raddourc1440
terrorc1480
cremeur1485
fearing1546
a1400–50 Alexander 4731 And þai for skere of þe skrike into þe schaw fledd.
1578 T. Nicholas tr. F. Lopez de Gómara Pleasant Hist. Conquest W. India 21 They would sell him no provision for scare of the Governour Velasques.
1616 T. Scot Philomythie sig. B The night is come, the Shepheard soundly sleepes As he had wont, no skar his conscience keepes.
1895–7 in P. W. Joyce Social Hist. Ireland (1903) I. ix. 282 Great was the horror and the scare of him [sc. Cromm Cruach]. To him noble Gaels would prostrate themselves.
2. An act of scaring or a state of being scared; a sudden fright or alarm; esp. a state of general or public alarm occasioned by baseless or exaggerated rumours; occasionally in generalized use, panic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > apprehension > [noun] > fright caused by alarm
frighta1325
affrayc1380
fray1398
gloppeninga1400
alarma1460
scare1548
affright1566
affrightment1593
aghastment1594
surprise1609
gastc1686
gliff1732
stew1806
stink1819
feeze1825
startlement1927
1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. xxxixv They were sodaynely amased and striken with a soden scare.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. viii. xxxvii. 308 At Rome there happened a scare by night, which raised euery man so suddainely out of their first sleepe.
c1610 J. Melville Mem. Own Life (1683) 70 This I said by the way to give her a little scare from marriage.
1664 S. Pepys Diary 25 Nov. (1971) V. 330 God knows, this is only a scare to the Parliament, to make them give the more money.
1721 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1906) VII. 280 He was seiz'd upon the Scare of the Popish Plot.
1844 G. W. Kendall Narr. Santa Fé Exped. I. 97 Nothing can exceed the grandeur of the scene when a large cavallada, or drove of horse, takes a ‘scare’.
1881 Standard 4 Jan. We are evidently to have another Fenian scare.
1887 G. M. Fenn Master of Cerem. xiv You did give me a scare.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 22 Feb. 8/1 The time to buy stocks is when prices are depressed by scare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > [noun] > one who or that which inspires fear
eyeeOE
awea1325
dreadc1400
hideousc1420
scare1530
fear1535
fray-buga1555
dismayer1591
frightment1607
frighter?1611
affrighter1612
frightful1727
scarer1741
scare-sinner1765
scare-christian1772
scare-beggar1806
redoubtable1808
scare sleep1817
frightener1841
scare-bear1843
scare-bullfinch1849
scare-goose1887
ogreism1902
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > sowing and planting equipment > [noun] > bird-scarer
scarlec1440
scare1530
blencher1531
shail1531
fray-boggard1535
crow-keeper1562
malkinc1565
clacket1594
scarecrow1606
clap-mill1613
field keeper1620
shaw-fowl1621
bean-shatter1639
clapper1660
dudman1670
clack1678
hobidy-booby?1710
worricow1711
cherry-clapper1763
flay-crake1788
potato-bogle1815
cherry-clack1824
feather-piea1825
flay-crow1824
gally-baggar1825
gally-crow1825
bogle1830
tatie-bogle1838
shewel1888
scare-string1889
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > [noun] > scarecrow or device for scaring birds
buga1425
scarlec1440
scare1530
blencher1531
shail1531
fray-boggard1535
malkinc1565
clacket1594
bogle-bo1603
scarecrow1606
blinks1611
clap-mill1613
shaw-fowl1621
dudman1670
hobidy-booby?1710
cherry-clapper1763
flay-crake1788
potato-bogle1815
cherry-clack1824
feather-piea1825
flay-crow1824
gally-baggar1825
gally-crow1825
bogle1830
deadman1839
hodmandod1881
scarer1930
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 265/2 Scarre to scar crowes.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice ii. 16 When you make an olde ridden horse leade you the way where there bee manie Scarres and Boggards.
1620 G. Markham Farewell to Husb. (1625) 96 The nearer that these Blinkes or Scarres come to the ground..so much the better it is, lest the fowle finding a way to creep under them, begin not to respect them.
1824 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening (ed. 2) ii. iii. 292 Engines of alarm, or scares, are the bell or gong alarm for man; and the rattle-engine driven by hand, or a small wind-engine for herds.
1828 W. M'Dowall Poems 71 Rather hold him up a bug-bear or scar.
Compounds
scare-buying n. U.S. = panic buying n. at panic adj. and n.2 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > [noun] > panic buying
panic buying1896
scare-buying1944
1944 Sun (Baltimore) 23 Nov. 15/3 The sharply restricted supply of cotton goods..comes at a time when so-called ‘scare’ buying of such commodities is in boom proportions.
1959 Wall St. Jrnl. 4 May 1/1 Steel customers have been buying heavily for weeks, in anticipation of a strike... This ‘scare buying’..boosted steel-making to a scheduled 94·4% of the industry's rated capacity last week.
scare-head n. (see scare-heading n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [noun] > headline > types of
subhead1744
side head1822
side heading1836
subheading1842
spread head1872
scare-head1887
cross-head1888
scare-line1892
scare-heading1894
cross-heading1898
one-liner1904
streamer1909
banner1913
screamer1926
drophead1930
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [verb (transitive)] > headline > types of
subhead1870
scare-head1887
cross-head1890
banner1951
1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 15 Feb. 6/4 The ‘scare’ head which follows..is an evidence that the country paper tries hard to keep pace with the times and its metropolitan contemporary.
1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Oct. 3/1 A Japanese newspaper..has no such thing as head lines or scare heads.
1894 W. T. Stead If Christ came to Chicago 104 The sensationalists who manufacture scare heads for the Chicago papers.
1926 Scribner's Mag. Sept. 251/1 If he is at all impressionable, a glance at the scare-heads will utterly ruin what otherwise might have been a successful day.
1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris (U.K. ed.) v. 95 Metal workers were uneasy, having been stamped with scareheads against the Marshall Plan.
1971 Sci. Amer. May 10/2 Professor Reuterdahl's recent article in the Dearborn Independent is given its real place by the scare-head of the cover, which asks, in 3/4-inch letters, ‘Is Einstein a Plagiarist?’.
ˈscare-headed adj. (see scare-heading n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [adjective] > relating to headline > having type of headline
scare-headed1889
spread-headed1923
1889 W. D. Howells Hazard New Fortunes II. 281 He read..the deeply scare-headed story of Conrad's death.
1902 F. Norris Responsibilities of Novelist (1903) 300 The name of the leading lady or leading man is ‘scare-headed’ [on theatre bills].
1911 H. S. Harrison Queed xviii. 219 The..penny evening paper..scare~headed a jaundiced account of the affair.
scare-heading n. a heading to a column of newspaper matter written in extravagant language to produce a ‘scare’; hence as v. transitive, to furnish with a scare-head; to display as a scare-headline.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [noun] > headline > types of
subhead1744
side head1822
side heading1836
subheading1842
spread head1872
scare-head1887
cross-head1888
scare-line1892
scare-heading1894
cross-heading1898
one-liner1904
streamer1909
banner1913
screamer1926
drophead1930
1894 Daily News 15 Mar. 5/8 The men who manufacture scare headings for the paper saw the chance, and they worked up a great sensation.
scare-line n. a sensational announcement upon a newspaper poster; similarly in scare-headline, scare-letter, scare-novel, scare-politics, scare-report, scare-story, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [noun] > headline > types of
subhead1744
side head1822
side heading1836
subheading1842
spread head1872
scare-head1887
cross-head1888
scare-line1892
scare-heading1894
cross-heading1898
one-liner1904
streamer1909
banner1913
screamer1926
drophead1930
1892 J. Kirkland Story of Chicago i. xxxii. 381 The newspapers blazed with what are technically called ‘scare headlines’.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 25 Mar. 9/3 When we members want to stimulate our jaded senses we go into the street and read the scare-lines on some of the posters.
1912 R. Kipling Uses of Reading in Bk. of Words (1928) 87 The other made bad worse by shouting what was no better than a newspaper scare head-line.
1960 Guardian 11 Apr. 1/1 Rumours circulated..that the Government might introduce martial law, but this appeared to have been purely a scare story.
1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society vii. 94 The technique of the lobby is to put out a scare-story, and then move on quickly to a fresh one when scientific investigation proves the first one unfounded.
1979 Time 8 Jan. 40/1 The scare stories are based on phony evidence or plain prejudice.
scare-string n. an arrangement of twine on and about seed-plots and fruit trees to frighten away birds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > sowing and planting equipment > [noun] > bird-scarer
scarlec1440
scare1530
blencher1531
shail1531
fray-boggard1535
crow-keeper1562
malkinc1565
clacket1594
scarecrow1606
clap-mill1613
field keeper1620
shaw-fowl1621
bean-shatter1639
clapper1660
dudman1670
clack1678
hobidy-booby?1710
worricow1711
cherry-clapper1763
flay-crake1788
potato-bogle1815
cherry-clack1824
feather-piea1825
flay-crow1824
gally-baggar1825
gally-crow1825
bogle1830
tatie-bogle1838
shewel1888
scare-string1889
1889 A. T. Pask Eyes of Thames 151 The young birds pay little heed to the scare strings, and pull up the seedlings to their heart's content.
scare tactic n. a stratagem or ruse which seeks to manipulate public reaction by the exploitation of fear; usually plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > course adopted to achieve an end > other spec.
root and branch reform1822
meat-axe1831
root and branch policy1837
third way1935
scare tactic1967
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of terribleness > [noun] > one who or that which terrifies > terrorism > scare tactic
scare tactic1967
1967 Punch 8 Nov. 719/1 This alleged address from Zinoviev, the President of the Comintern..left an Angst about Tory scare-tactics from which Transport House has never recovered.
1973 Black Panther 17 Mar. 8/1 (caption) Boxes of poisoned lettuce have had to be destroyed. This is no ‘scare tactic’, it is for real.
1976 Survey Summer 191 The slickers in the Pentagon are using their annual scare tactics in support of bigger budgets.
Draft additions September 2004
scare quotes n. quotation marks used to foreground a particular word or phrase, esp. with the intention of disassociating the user from the expression or from some implied connotation it carries.
ΚΠ
1956 Mind 65 3 The ‘scare-quotes’ are mine; Aristotle is not overtly discussing the expression ‘whichever happens’.
1960 P. T. Geach in M. Brand Nature of Human Action (1970) 119 Someone..might use ‘happy’, in scare-quotes so to say, to mean ‘what most people count happy, that is rich’.
2001 Isis 92 177/2 Magnetism, we are told, was a discipline at the crossroad of science and ‘pre-science’ (her scare quotes) at the end of the sixteenth century.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† scaren.3
Obsolete. rare.
= Scarus n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > member of family Scaridae (parrot-fish)
Scarus1601
parrotfish1656
sea-parrot1666
scare1706
scaroa1717
scar1748
parrot wrasse1884
parrot-perch1898
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Scare, a sort of Fish.
1803 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 488 Scare Labrus..Labrus Scarus.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
scaren.4
/skɛː/, U.S. /skɛ(ə)r/ Golf.
The part of a golf club where the head joins the handle.
ΚΠ
1881 R. Forgan Golfer's Handbk. 35 Scare, the narrow part of the club-head by which it is glued to the handle.
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 473/1 Scare, the part of the club where the head and shaft are joined.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scareadj.
/skɛː/, U.S. /skɛ(ə)r/ rare.
Timid, frightened.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > timidity > [adjective]
arghc885
unboldc897
bletheOE
feyOE
frightfula1325
fearedc1330
fearfulc1374
ferdfula1382
palea1393
ferdya1400
ghastful1422
tremblingc1430
timorousc1450
cremeuse1477
craintive1490
cocklea1500
sheepish?1518
awfula1522
meticulousc1540
timidc1550
sheepa1556
tremebundc1560
timorsomec1600
tremulous1611
pigeon-hearteda1625
affrightful1631
formidolous1656
pavid1656
timidous1658
unsupported1694
tender-nosed1700
scary1773
pippin-hearted1809
kitten-hearted1831
funky1835
misventurous1849
milksoppish1852
tender-footed1854
fearsome1863
scare1885
milksoppy1886
milksopping1888
cotton wool1909
1885 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche x. iii. 119 But ere Her tale was done resumed his manner scare, Ran down, and on his way in darkness kept.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scarev.
/skɛː/, U.S. /skɛ(ə)r//skɛəd/. Forms: α. Middle English–1500s skerre, Middle English Scottish sckir; β. 1500s–1600s scarre, Middle English–1600s skar, Middle English–1700s scar, 1500s–1600s skarre, 1600s Scottish scarr, skarr, 1600s–1800s Scottish scaur; past tense and past participle Middle English Scottish schard, Middle English, 1500s–1800s scarred, Middle English scharid, Middle English–1600s skard, 1500s scard, Scottish skarred, skarrit, 1800s dialect scart; γ. Middle English scere, Middle English skere, 1500s skeare; 1800s dialect (and U.S. vulgar) skear, skeer; δ. Middle English skayre, Middle English–1600s skare, 1500s– scare; past participle 1600s skaerd. 1. † b. ? To alarm, put on the alert (a sentry). Obsolete.
a. transitive. To frighten, terrify.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > frighten [verb (transitive)]
gastOE
eisieOE
fearc1000
scarec1175
fray14..
doubtc1315
fright1423
flightc1571
to curdle the blood1579
effray1588
hare1656
pavefy1656
frighten1666
sob1671
haze1677
funk1789
gliff1823
frecken1847
to scare a person silly1942
α.
β. a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 207 Cum thow agane to skar ws with thy strais, We sall gar scale our sculis all the to scorne.1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 90 King Richard so scarred the French kinges host, that he tooke the kinges Sumpter horse and parte of his treasure.1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. xi. 21 There is a word will..Scarre Troy out of it selfe. View more context for this quotationa1691 J. Flavell Fountain of Life (ed. 2) (1698) xi. 120 When they should find themselves more scared [1673 feared] than hurt by his threats.1721 A. Ramsay Concl. 6 Daft, giddy thing! to..spang o'er dykes that scar the blate.1901 ‘G. Douglas’ House with Green Shutters 279 He never met what scaured him!γ. a1400–50 Alexander 3865 Þan comes þare-out creuesses of manykins hewis, Scorpions þaim to scere & scalid neddirs.c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 457/2 Skeryn' a-wey, abigo.1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos sig. Y.iiiiv Now gastly sights mens hearts to skeare, In forgyng fire they shope.1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. v. 254 Don't be so despit skeered, Mr. Hadlock.δ. 1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xii. lxx. 293 At first she feares, but lastly findes the Armor was vn-man'd: When skaerd, and cheerd, with Dorcas she did enter, theare at hand.a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. ii. 28 My selfe, as farre as I could well discerne,..Am sure I scar'd the Dolphin and his Trull.a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) i. xi. 107 Let not every shew of danger skare you.1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 165 Such dreadful Precipices, that scar'd me to look down.1700 T. Brown Amusem. Serious & Comical iii. 37 I that am always more scared at the sight of a Sergeant, or Bayliff, than at the Devil and all his Works.a1771 T. Gray Imit. Propertius in Wks. (1814) II. 86 The triple dog that scares the shadowy kind.1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake ii. 84 A thousand villages in flames, Shall scare the slumbers of King James!1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 104 Ye wasn't skeered, nor nothin' was ye tho'?a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) II. 12 Who scared me with that Gorgon face?1864 R. D. Blackmore Clara Vaughan I. i. xv. 123 Turning to me. ‘Doon'e be skeared, Miss Clerer.’1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 505 Such practices..scare the multitude out of their wits.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 676 He [sc. the devil] wile himm færenn ȝiff he maȝȝ & skerrenn mare. & mare.
c1480 (a1400) St. Julian 595 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 475 Þat takine þe feyndis sckiris, & of þar mycht & purpos merrys.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > warning of imminent danger or evil > warn (a person) of imminent danger or evil [verb (transitive)] > rouse to awareness of danger
scarea1400
alarm1650
alert1860
red-light1969
a1400 Morte Arth. 2468 Discoueris of schottemene, and skyrmys a lyttille; Skayres thaire skottefers, and theire skowtte-waches.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 838 In grete flokkez of folk, þay fallen to his ȝatez, As a scowte wach scarred, so þe asscry rysed.
c1425 Cast. Persev. 1907 in Macro Plays 134 Schapyth now ȝoure scheldys schene, ȝene skallyd skoutis for to skerre up-on ȝone grene grese!
c. To frighten away, drive off. Now chiefly with adverb, except with reference to keeping off birds from corn, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > cause physical symptoms [verb (transitive)] > frighten away
feezec890
shuncha1225
aschewelea1250
fearc1420
scarec1450
affray1487
fray1526
fright1599
lowbell1642
shy1845
c1450 Mankind 800 in Macro Plays 29 He skaryth ws with a bales; we may no lengere tary.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 13404 This Ascatus with skathe skerrit of his rewme Pelleus.
1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 51v Keepe cart gap weele, scare hog from wheele.
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 4 Being scarr'd from thence by the pangs, and gripes of a boyling conscience.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 237 They were soon scared away, when we assured them we were Christians.
1787 R. Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xiii, in Poems (new ed.) 59 Mony a scheme in vain's been laid, To stap or scaur me.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. x*. 293 Ou, that wad be the lights and the noise that scarr'd us awa.
1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles & St. James (new ed.) xii, in Writings I. 114 A chap, with rags on him, not fit to scare birds in a bean-field.
d. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). to scare up: to frighten (game) out of cover; (hence) figurative to bring to light, to discover; to procure, obtain, ‘rustle up’. Also to scare out.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)]
wieldeOE
haveeOE
ofgoOE
oweOE
addlec1175
winc1175
avela1200
to come by ——a1225
covera1250
oughtc1275
reachc1275
hentc1300
purchasec1300
to come to ——c1330
getc1330
pickc1330
chevise1340
fang1340
umbracec1350
chacche1362
perceivea1382
accroacha1393
achievea1393
to come at ——a1393
areach1393
recovera1398
encroach?a1400
chevec1400
enquilec1400
obtainc1422
recurec1425
to take upc1425
acquirea1450
encheve1470
sortise1474
conques?a1500
tain1501
report1508
conquest1513
possess1526
compare1532
cough1550
coff1559
fall1568
reap1581
acquist1592
accrue1594
appurchasec1600
recoil1632
to get at ——1666
to come into ——1672
rise1754
net1765
to fall in for1788
to scare up1846
access1953
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)]
findOE
yfindOE
hita1075
befindc1200
out-findc1300
to try outc1325
to find outa1375
to find upc1390
ascryc1400
outwryc1400
inventc1475
vent1611
to hit off1680
discover1762
to scare up1846
to pick up1869
rumble1897
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > obtain or acquire in a certain way > by care or effort > by exertion
to dig upc1400
to dig outa1425
tuga1657
rustle1844
to scare up1846
quarry1847
flog1959
1846 Spirit of Times 25 Apr. 97/1 He is also to send us the rattles of the biggest snake ever scared up in ‘Old Norf Caline’.
1852 H. C. Watson Nights in Block-house 169 Ad was equal to two or three common men in scarin' up and shootin' red-skins.
1853 Putnam's Monthly Mag. Sept. 304/2 A great man..does not make the noodles and nobodies that he may scare up any where, his chief agents.
1857 The States (Washington) (Bartlett 1860) A very useful bag in a family, in scaring up eggs for breakfast.
1862 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. ii. i. 65 Where can you scare up names like them among your mudsill folks?
1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl Shooting 142 We probably won't scare out any very large batches of ducks.
1890 Stock Grower & Farmer 1 Feb. 4/2 A country the like of which can not be ‘scared up’ in many thousands of miles travel.
1913 J. London Night-born 262 Los Angeles must be on the dink when this is the best you can scare up.
1922 J. Galsworthy Loyalties ii. ii. 71 Let's cut it and get out to Nairobi. I can scare up the money for that.
1940 New Yorker 13 Jan. 31/2 A young woman who had somehow contrived to scare up a permit to leave the country.
1951 J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1952) xii. 145 Maybe I can scare you up some [work].
1961 Listener 2 Nov. 738/1 Professor Ford has always managed to scare up a few distinguished contributors.
1976 H. Nielsen Brink of Murder ii. 21 Why don't you relax..and then we'll scare up some dinner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > be afraid or fear [verb (intransitive)]
adreadeOE
affrightOE
frightc1000
agastc1300
offrightc1300
scarec1400
resoignc1500
fray1535
feara1593
fley1768
β.
δ. 1699 T. Boston Soliloquy Art of Man-fishing (1900) 52 Every parish will scare at thee as a monster of men.a1732 T. Boston Memoirs (1776) v. 46 Being everywhere scared at by some.1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad xlii. 440 This creature has scared at every thing he has seen to-day.c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 598 Bot of þe dome of þe douþe for dedez of schame He is so skoymus of þat skaþe, he scarrez bylyue.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Fox, Wolf, & Cadger l. 1971 in Poems (1981) 76 I am rad, gif thay me se on far, That at my figure beist and bird will skar.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 248 With him and with his abbeit bayth I skarrit, Lyk to ane man that with a gaist wes marrit.
a1605 A. Montgomerie Devotional Poems in Poems (1910) vi. 62 Then prayers, almesdeids, and tearis, Vhilks ȝit to skorne ȝee skantly skar, Sall mair availl than jaks and spearis.
1629 W. Mure True Crucifixe 1775 Thou must not skarre vpon thy Soares to looke, To read thy dittay in that sacred Booke.
1682 A. Peden Lord's Trumpet Sounding 30 Scar not at the cross for it is the way to the crown.
1710 in Coll. Dying Testimonies (1806) 157 What ails poor harlot Scotland to scar so much at that noble gift.
1721 R. Wodrow Hist. Sufferings Church of Scotl. (1829) I. i. iv. 358 He cried with a loud voice, ‘I beseech you..not to scar at sufferings for the interests of Christ.’
3. To take a scare (see scare n.2); to be alarmed by rumours or the like. Frequently in negative, esp. with easily or easy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > apprehension > be apprehensive [verb (intransitive)] > be alarmed
tremble and trotc1425
fear1490
startle1562
to give (also take, raise) the alarm1570
to take alarm1587
to take bog1627
scare1900
to get (have)or put the breeze up1910
to get the wind up1916
spook1928
1900 Academy 8 Sept. 194/1 The big depositors wouldn't scare.
1941 Sun (Baltimore) 4 Jan. 6/2 Whatever else they do or fail to do, the Irish don't scare easily.
1951 ‘M. Spillane’ One Lonely Night iv. 61 They're the kind of people who scare easily.
1967 O. Ruhen in Coast to Coast 1965–6 192 The horse won't scare, but take it easy.
1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 5/2 ‘We don't scare easy,’ his cousin said as I went out the door.
Compounds
General attributive with an object-n., forming nouns with the sense ‘one who or something which scares’.
scare-bear n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > [noun] > one who or that which inspires fear
eyeeOE
awea1325
dreadc1400
hideousc1420
scare1530
fear1535
fray-buga1555
dismayer1591
frightment1607
frighter?1611
affrighter1612
frightful1727
scarer1741
scare-sinner1765
scare-christian1772
scare-beggar1806
redoubtable1808
scare sleep1817
frightener1841
scare-bear1843
scare-bullfinch1849
scare-goose1887
ogreism1902
1843 Peter Parley's Ann. 216 Logs hung vibrating from the branches of trees, and other scare-bears.
scare-beggar n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > [noun] > one who or that which inspires fear
eyeeOE
awea1325
dreadc1400
hideousc1420
scare1530
fear1535
fray-buga1555
dismayer1591
frightment1607
frighter?1611
affrighter1612
frightful1727
scarer1741
scare-sinner1765
scare-christian1772
scare-beggar1806
redoubtable1808
scare sleep1817
frightener1841
scare-bear1843
scare-bullfinch1849
scare-goose1887
ogreism1902
1806 Sporting Mag. 27 186 He..is the scare-beggar of the parish.
scare-bullfinch n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > [noun] > one who or that which inspires fear
eyeeOE
awea1325
dreadc1400
hideousc1420
scare1530
fear1535
fray-buga1555
dismayer1591
frightment1607
frighter?1611
affrighter1612
frightful1727
scarer1741
scare-sinner1765
scare-christian1772
scare-beggar1806
redoubtable1808
scare sleep1817
frightener1841
scare-bear1843
scare-bullfinch1849
scare-goose1887
ogreism1902
1849 Zoologist 7 2568 A stuffed cat..has been found a capital scare-bullfinch.
scare-christian n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > [noun] > one who or that which inspires fear
eyeeOE
awea1325
dreadc1400
hideousc1420
scare1530
fear1535
fray-buga1555
dismayer1591
frightment1607
frighter?1611
affrighter1612
frightful1727
scarer1741
scare-sinner1765
scare-christian1772
scare-beggar1806
redoubtable1808
scare sleep1817
frightener1841
scare-bear1843
scare-bullfinch1849
scare-goose1887
ogreism1902
1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. 455 Whom he esteemed the most redoubted Scare-christian that dignified the pulpit in that age.
scare-goose n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > [noun] > one who or that which inspires fear
eyeeOE
awea1325
dreadc1400
hideousc1420
scare1530
fear1535
fray-buga1555
dismayer1591
frightment1607
frighter?1611
affrighter1612
frightful1727
scarer1741
scare-sinner1765
scare-christian1772
scare-beggar1806
redoubtable1808
scare sleep1817
frightener1841
scare-bear1843
scare-bullfinch1849
scare-goose1887
ogreism1902
1887 R. Garnett Life Carlyle iv. 67 Letters poured in, countermanding subscriptions until the scaregoose should be removed.
scare-sinner n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > [noun] > one who or that which inspires fear
eyeeOE
awea1325
dreadc1400
hideousc1420
scare1530
fear1535
fray-buga1555
dismayer1591
frightment1607
frighter?1611
affrighter1612
frightful1727
scarer1741
scare-sinner1765
scare-christian1772
scare-beggar1806
redoubtable1808
scare sleep1817
frightener1841
scare-bear1843
scare-bullfinch1849
scare-goose1887
ogreism1902
1765 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VII. vii. 25 Do stop that death-looking, long-striding scoundrel of a scare-sinner, who is posting after me.
scare sleep n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > [noun] > one who or that which inspires fear
eyeeOE
awea1325
dreadc1400
hideousc1420
scare1530
fear1535
fray-buga1555
dismayer1591
frightment1607
frighter?1611
affrighter1612
frightful1727
scarer1741
scare-sinner1765
scare-christian1772
scare-beggar1806
redoubtable1808
scare sleep1817
frightener1841
scare-bear1843
scare-bullfinch1849
scare-goose1887
ogreism1902
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) II. 401 The great lantern-fly..from its noise in the evening..is called Scare-sleep by the Dutch in Guiana.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1275
n.2a1400n.31706
n.41881
adj.1885v.c1175