scare1 verbscare2 noun
scarescare1 /skeə $ sker/ ●●● S2 verb 
WORD ORIGINscare1
Origin:
1100-1200 Old Norse skirra, from skjarr ‘shy, fearful’VERB TABLE
scare
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | scare |
| he, she, it | scares | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | scared |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have scared |
| he, she, it | has scared | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had scared |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will scare |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have scared |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am scaring |
| he, she, it | is scaring | |
| you, we, they | are scaring | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was scaring |
| you, we, they | were scaring | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been scaring |
| he, she, it | has been scaring | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been scaring |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be scaring |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been scaring |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- All the stuff he said about spiders kind of scared me.
- Don't creep up on me like that! You scared the living daylights out of me!
- He was driving fast just to scare us.
- It scared him to think that his mother might never recover.
- She scared the hell out of me when she said she had to go into hospital.
- We're not really going to get arrested - I think the police are trying to scare us.
- Dad stormed out and I was so scared he was blaming me that I started crying.
- He remembered the menacing phone-calls to Nicola and wondered aloud whether some one from a drugs syndicate had been trying to scare her.
- He was scared to death, and his head was almost shaved like new recruits in armies the world over.
- The procedure is an effective means of scaring off applicants.
- They were sexually inexperienced at marriage, and scared of babies.
- Today, he scares the hell out of a lot of Republicans.
- Tracks can hardly afford to scare away the best horses now that rich races are plentiful and horse transportation is routine.
THESAURUS
to make someone feel afraid: · The thought of being in court frightened him.
especially spoken to frighten someone. Scare is less formal than frighten, and is the usual word to use in everyday English: · He was driving fast just to scare us.· It scared him to think that his mother might never recover.
to make someone feel extremely frightened: · The idea of going down into the caves terrified her.· Robbers terrified bank staff by threatening them at gunpoint.
to make someone suddenly feel frightened in a way that makes their heart beat more quickly: · It gave me a terrible fright when I found him unconscious on the floor.
if a person or place gives you the creeps, they make you feel slightly frightened because they are strange: · This house gives me the creeps.
to frighten someone. Used when you suddenly see someone and did not know they were there, or when you suddenly hear something: · I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.· The noise startled him, and he dropped his glass on the floor.
to make someone feel frightened and worried that something bad might happen: · I didn’t want to alarm her by calling in the middle of the night.
to deliberately frighten someone, especially so that they will do what you want: · Many of the gangs were using dogs to intimidate people.
Longman Language Activatorto make someone feel frightened · Does the thought of death frighten you?· Take that silly mask off -- you're frightening the children.it frightens somebody to know/think etc · It frightens me to know that the rapist still hasn't been caught.frighten the life out of somebody (=make someone feel very frightened) · What are you doing creeping up on me like that? You frightened the life out of me!frighten somebody out of their wits (=make someone feel very frightened) · Film-makers have always known that one way to capture an audience is to frighten it out of its wits. frighten the (living) daylights out of somebody (=make someone feel very frightened) · Melissa spun round to see Eddie standing behind her. "You frightened the daylights out of me!" she gasped. "I never heard you come in."frighten somebody into doing something (=make someone do something by frightening them) · Their lawyers tried to frighten us into signing the contract.frighten somebody off/frighten off somebody (=frighten someone so that they go away or stop trying to do something) · The man pulled out a gun and managed to frighten off his attackers.
especially spoken to make someone feel frightened, especially by making them think something very unpleasant might happen: · He was driving fast just to scare us.· We're not really going to get arrested - I think the police are trying to scare us.it scares somebody to know/think etc: · It scared him to think that his mother might never recover.scare the hell out of somebody (=make someone feel very frightened) informal: · She scared the hell out of me when she said she had to go into hospital.scare the (living) daylights out of somebody (=make someone feel very frightened): · Don't creep up on me like that! You scared the living daylights out of me!
to make someone feel very frightened: · The idea of going down into the caves terrified her.· The teacher terrified her so much, that she hated going to school.· My uncle suffers from agoraphobia, and the idea of leaving the house terrifies him.it terrifies somebody to think/know etc: · It terrified him to think that, in six months' time, he would have to stand up in front of a class and teach them something.
to make someone suddenly feel frightened so that they make a sudden movement or their heart starts beating quickly: · He really gave me a fright when he phoned at that time of night.give somebody a hell of a fright (=make someone suddenly very frightened) informal: · I accidentally touched a live wire in the motor, and even though it didn't hurt me it gave me a hell of a fright.
to make people feel very worried about a possible danger: · We don't wish to alarm people unnecessarily, but it would be wise to avoid drinking the tap water here.· Many women are alarmed by suggestions of a link between the contraceptive pill and breast cancer.
if someone or something startles you, they frighten you because you see them suddenly or hear them when you did not know they were there: · I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.· The noise startled him, and he dropped his glass on the floor.· Any unexpected movements can startle the animal, so it must be approached slowly and steadily.
to suddenly surprise and frighten someone so that they make a sudden movement: · Sorry! I didn't mean to make you jump.· Something darted out from behind the hedge, and made me jump.
if a person or a place gives you the creeps , they make you feel slightly frightened and nervous because they are strange: · This house gives me the creeps - it's so dark and quiet.· I hate being left alone in the office with Graham - he gives me the creeps.
informal if something such as a story or account makes your hair stand on end it makes you very frightened: · Wait until I tell you about the murder -- it'll make your hair stand on end.· I've heard rumours about how Captain Crayshaw disciplines his crew... things to make your hair stand on end.
if a thought or experience sends shivers down your spine , it makes you feel very frightened especially because it involves someone or something that is very evil: · When you think of what happened in that house, it sends shivers down your spine.· Mere mention of his name is enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most battle-hardened fighter.
if a thought or experience makes your blood run cold , it shocks and frightens you because it is extremely cruel, violent, or dangerous: · The thought of ever returning to the prison makes his blood run cold. · The man stepped forward, and when Amelie saw him give a Nazi salute, it made her blood run cold.
to deliberately frighten someone to make someone feel frightened about what will happen if they do not do something, so that they do it. Scare somebody into is more informal than frighten somebody into: frighten/scare somebody into doing something: · The Nationalists kept talking about the "Communist threat" to scare people into voting for them.· Stapleton had tried to frighten her into keeping quiet, but she had refused to be intimidated.
also terrorise British to deliberately frighten people over a long period of time, by using violence or by threatening them, especially in order to make them do what you want: · Some of the older children dominated the playground and terrorized the smaller kids.· A gang of youths are roaming the city, vandalising stores, starting fires, and terrorizing people.terrorize somebody into doing something (=make someone do something by using violence, threats etc): · With threats, beatings, and even murder, the workers were terrorized into leaving their unions.
someone who easily gets frightened informal to easily get frightened: · Being a police officer isn't a job for someone who scares easily.· I'll go down and see what that noise was. I don't scare easily you know.
easily frightened and unwilling to do anything that might be unpleasant or dangerous: · Decker knew that the senior officer was wrong, but was too timid to tell him.· They think I'm just a timid woman, but I'll show them they're wrong.timid about doing something: · I was always timid about taking action in a crisis, but not Doris.
a nervous person is always worried or frightened about something that may happen, so that they cannot relax: · You know what makes me nervous? When people drive really close behind you.· The stage is huge, you know, and I walked out there, and I was real nervous.nervous about: · I was so nervous about my exams that I couldn't sleep.nervous of: · Jill's always been a little nervous of dogs.of a nervous disposition (=with a nervous character) formal: · People of a nervous disposition may be upset by some of the scenes in the following programme.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
Rachel had always been scared of heights. Employers used scare tactics to force a return to work.
(=scare someone very much) The alarm scared the hell out of me.
The alarm scared the hell out of me. informal (=scare someone very much)
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES· She was too scared to talk.
(=when people think there might be a bomb somewhere)· The building was evacuated after a bomb scare.
(=when people are afraid to eat a particular food)· The meat industry has been badly affected by recent food scares.
Rachel had always been scared of heights. Employers used scare tactics to force a return to work. (=in which you deliberately try to frighten people)· He accused the opposition of scare tactics.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· His Halloween programme Ghostwatch so scared my children that I have had to sleep on a camp bed in their room.· Threats and punishments very often succeed in scaring an aggressive child into changing his ways.
· I could not possibly tell him the truth, as that would scare the daylights out of him.· He is capable of rages near to those on-screen moments when he can scare the living daylights out of a cinema audience.
· If he caught him up here again he'd see him off, scare him to death.· But the first time I did it, I was scared half to death.· The first time this had happened to her, she had been scared to death.· They acted as if they knew what would happen if they lost, and they were scared to death of it.· Then I looked up lymphoma in a medical book and almost scared myself to death!· His bungalow had scared her to death.· Then she'd jump out and scare them to death!· You had us scared half to death.
· Don't even glance at me, my proud beauties: you'd scare the hell out of me.· Just to make the move scared the hell out of me.· You know it too, and you're scared as hell.· Today, he scares the hell out of a lot of Republicans.· Statistics like that scare the hell out of me, and they must scare a lot of CEOs too.· It scared the hell out of me.· Tornadoes are not fascinating to me; they scare the hell out of me.· There is no stopping planned randomness, and that scares the hell out of us.
· Traffic is another worry-busier roads and faster cars make parents scared to let their kids walk to school alone.· Is television scaring our kids, engendering violent behavior, skewing their morals and generally eroding the aesthetic standards of Western civilization?
· It scared the life out of me.· He had never been so scared in his life.· The idea might seem silly nowadays, but it scared the life out of even the most blood-thirsty Viking warrior.· When, however-many years later-the script finally did arrive, two things scared the life out of me.· I have never been in a situation where I was so scared in all my life.
· I know how to scare people and I know how to hurt them.· This scares many people-but, proponents argue, why not?· Schiavo certainly deserves no credit for scaring people needlessly just to settle a score.· What she has got is a hunger so fierce it scares people away.· John Smith doesn't scare people anything like as much.
· Suddenly, I heard a loud crash near me, scaring me out of my wits.· People especially like to pat foals, and unfortunately usually on their face or head, which scares the wits out of them.· It also came with a neighbor who scared the wits out of me, but about whom I was curious.· They had seen the knuckles come out of the silken wrapping and the force of it scared their wits back into good manners.· The film has gotten good reviews, but it has scared the wits out of some male film critics.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► scare/frighten the (living) daylights out of somebody► afraid/frightened/scared etc of your own shadow► scare somebody shitless► frighten/scare/terrify somebody out of their wits► be scared witless
- Being a police officer isn't a job for someone who scares easily.
- I'll go down and see what that noise was. I don't scare easily you know.
- I don't think I scare easily, but I sure as hell scared myself that weekend.
- When Glass bought his house, the area where he lives was full of crack dealers so he does not scare easily.
- And I said, beats the hell out of me.
- Eddie knows this, and it scares the hell out of her.
- It scared the hell out of me.
- Just to make the move scared the hell out of me.
- Statistics like that scare the hell out of me, and they must scare a lot of CEOs too.
- There is no stopping planned randomness, and that scares the hell out of us.
- Today, he scares the hell out of a lot of Republicans.
- Tornadoes are not fascinating to me; they scare the hell out of me.
- When, however-many years later-the script finally did arrive, two things scared the life out of me.
- He wasn't interested in the heavy political stuff which bored the pants off most people.
- It took ten minutes to reach Honey Cottage, with Yanto trying his best to scare the pants off Mary.
- Lovely people who scared the pants off him.
- The tests scare the pants off many managers.
- Though, mind you, it scares the pants off poor old Crumwallis.
- Their new software has the competition running scared.
- Then why is it that Chretien appears to be running scared?
- To me, ti just looks like the fools are running scared.
- Whenever managers were laid off, he sensed in the ranks ever-higher levels of anxiety Even those who remained were running scared.
- Well, I laughed myself silly.
- And I was scared stiff about having lied to Mel about being single when he hired me.
- Cis, who knew about it, was scared stiff.
- He was scared stiff, thought a ghastly mistake had been made.
- He was very naturally scared stiff of using up all his remaining petrol and making a bad landing.
- Mabel was by now scared stiff and frozen cold.
- Poor kid, thought Alice, he's scared stiff.
- We looked at each other, scared stiff, but we followed Mrs Bullivant upstairs.
WORD FAMILYadjectivescaredscarynounscareverbscare
1[transitive] to make someone feel frightened SYN frighten: Loud noises can scare animals or birds.scare the life/living daylights/hell etc out of somebody (=scare someone very much) The alarm scared the hell out of me.scare the pants off somebody informal (=scare someone very much)2scare easily to be frightened by things that are not very frightening: I don’t scare easily, you know.scare somebody into something phrasal verb to make someone do something by frightening them or threatening themscare somebody into doing something You can’t scare me into telling you anything.scare somebody/something ↔ off/away phrasal verb1to make an animal or person go away by frightening them: She moved quietly to avoid scaring the birds away.2to make someone uncertain or worried so that they do not do something they were going to do: Rising prices are scaring off many potential customers.scare something ↔ up phrasal verb American English informal to make something although you have very few things to make it from: Let me see if I can scare up something for you to eat.scare1 verbscare2 noun
scarescare2 ●○○ noun EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a health scare
- A year after Chernobyl the scare about radioactive food had died down.
- Aids has caused such a scare that fewer and fewer people are giving blood.
- Retail sales were down due to a spate of bomb scares before Christmas.
- Some people, nervous about the health scare over cellular phones, have started using hands-free apparatus.
- The game was delayed due to a bomb scare.
- And behind bars ... puppy is seized in rabies scare.
- If she wishes to attach herself to the scare, I am delighted.
- That said, I think most virus scares are overblown.
- The scare has been blown out of proportion, said John Marchello, professor of animal science at the University of Arizona.
- The media buy into the scam because such scare stories about unseen threats make good headlines.
- Whatever you may think about the morality of abortion, these are the most deplorable scare tactics.
Longman Language Activatoran event or situation that frightens people
a situation in which a lot of people are frightened of something such as a serious illness, violence, or a problem that may harm them - used especially in news reports: · Aids has caused such a scare that fewer and fewer people are giving blood.scare about/over: · A year after Chernobyl the scare about radioactive food had died down.bomb scare (=when there is a report that there is a bomb): · Retail sales were down due to a spate of bomb scares before Christmas.food/health scare: · Some people, nervous about the health scare over cellular phones, have started using hands-free apparatus.
an event or situation which frightens and shocks people because they see terrible things happening: · Children in these famine-stricken areas simply cannot be protected from the horror all around them.the horror of: · One woman cried as she told of the horror of seeing workmates killed in the lift.· They joined the anti- nuclear campaign after seeing a film about the horrors of Hiroshima.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY You really gave us a scare! a bomb scare a health scareCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Rachel had always been scared of heights. Employers used scare tactics to force a return to work.
You really gave us a scare! a bomb scare a health scare· She was too scared to talk.
(=when people think there might be a bomb somewhere)· The building was evacuated after a bomb scare.
(=when people are afraid to eat a particular food)· The meat industry has been badly affected by recent food scares.
Rachel had always been scared of heights. Employers used scare tactics to force a return to work. (=in which you deliberately try to frighten people)· He accused the opposition of scare tactics.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· She says that they were told that it was a bomb scare.· No, not the usual boring bomb scare, but a cultural occasion of enormous significance.· The previous day also the factory was evacuated after a bomb scare.· Cross-channel ferries held up by a bomb scare ....· Apparently there had been a bomb scare recently.· Following the find, the centre was evacuated again because of a bomb scare which police believe was a hoax.
· However there has never been a food scare with lamb.· Instead. these people only refer to farmers when there is news like a food scare to react to.· I always seem to be reading about a new food scare.
· I don't want to start any scare stories, but it just illustrates our ignorance.· The media buy into the scam because such scare stories about unseen threats make good headlines.· Reports measuring the effect of lower radiation dosages conflict with these scare stories, sometimes drastically.
· This claim has never been proved and it may have been part of the Securitate's scare tactics.· Republicans have complained that Democrats are using Social Security scare tactics to incite seniors groups and others to oppose the constitutional amendment.· Whatever you may think about the morality of abortion, these are the most deplorable scare tactics.· You also wrongly stated that we use scare tactics such as hostile looks or suggestive comments to keep women away.· Then they used scare tactics, telling the audience that fat people were apt to succumb to something called Sudden Death syndrome.
VERB· I only meant to give her a scare.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► scare/frighten the (living) daylights out of somebody► afraid/frightened/scared etc of your own shadow► scare somebody shitless► frighten/scare/terrify somebody out of their wits► be scared witless
- And I said, beats the hell out of me.
- Eddie knows this, and it scares the hell out of her.
- It scared the hell out of me.
- Just to make the move scared the hell out of me.
- Statistics like that scare the hell out of me, and they must scare a lot of CEOs too.
- There is no stopping planned randomness, and that scares the hell out of us.
- Today, he scares the hell out of a lot of Republicans.
- Tornadoes are not fascinating to me; they scare the hell out of me.
- When, however-many years later-the script finally did arrive, two things scared the life out of me.
- He wasn't interested in the heavy political stuff which bored the pants off most people.
- It took ten minutes to reach Honey Cottage, with Yanto trying his best to scare the pants off Mary.
- Lovely people who scared the pants off him.
- The tests scare the pants off many managers.
- Though, mind you, it scares the pants off poor old Crumwallis.
- Their new software has the competition running scared.
- Then why is it that Chretien appears to be running scared?
- To me, ti just looks like the fools are running scared.
- Whenever managers were laid off, he sensed in the ranks ever-higher levels of anxiety Even those who remained were running scared.
- Well, I laughed myself silly.
- And I was scared stiff about having lied to Mel about being single when he hired me.
- Cis, who knew about it, was scared stiff.
- He was scared stiff, thought a ghastly mistake had been made.
- He was very naturally scared stiff of using up all his remaining petrol and making a bad landing.
- Mabel was by now scared stiff and frozen cold.
- Poor kid, thought Alice, he's scared stiff.
- We looked at each other, scared stiff, but we followed Mrs Bullivant upstairs.
WORD FAMILYadjectivescaredscarynounscareverbscare
1[singular] a sudden feeling of fear: You really gave us a scare!2[countable] a situation in which a lot of people become frightened about something: a bomb scare a health scare