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Webster 1913 Edition

Scare

Scare

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Scared
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Scaring
.]
[OE.
skerren
,
skeren
, Icel.
skirra
to bar, prevent,
skirrask
to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE.
skerre
, adj., scared, Icel.
skjarr
; both perhaps akin to E.
sheer
to turn.]
To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm.
The noise of thy crossbow
Will
scare
the herd, and so my shoot is lost.
Shakespeare
To scare away
,
to drive away by frightening.
–
To scare up
,
to find by search, as if by beating for game.
[Slang]
Syn. – To alarm; frighten; startle; affright; terrify.

Scare

,
Noun.
Fright; esp., sudden fright produced by a trifling cause, or originating in mistake.
[Colloq.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Scare

SCARE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. ex and cor, heart; but qu.]
To fright; to terrify suddenly; to strike with sudden terror.
The noise of thy crow-bow will scare the herd, and so my shot is lost.
To scare away, to drive away by frightening.

Definition 2024

scare

scare

English

Noun

scare ‎(plural scares)

  1. A minor fright.
    Johnny had a bad scare last night.
    • 2011 June 4, Phil McNulty, “England 2 - 2 Switzerland”, in BBC:
      England were held to a draw after surviving a major scare against Switzerland as they were forced to come from two goals behind to earn a point in the Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley.
  2. A cause of slight terror; something that inspires fear or dread.
    JM is a scare to the capitalists of this country.
Synonyms
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Etymology 2

An alteration (first attested in the 1590s) of Middle English skerren (which is itself first attested c. 1200). Middle English skerren is derived from the Old Norse verb skirra ("to frighten; to shrink away from, shun; to prevent, avert"), which is related to the Old Norse noun skjarr ("timid, shy, afraid of") of unknown ultimate origin. Compare Scots skar ("wild, timid, shy").

Verb

scare ‎(third-person singular simple present scares, present participle scaring, simple past and past participle scared)

  1. To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
    Did it scare you when I said "Boo!"?
    • c. 1851, Henry VI, Part 3 (III:i, v. 6-7), William Shakespeare
      That cannot be; the noise of thy crossbow / Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost.
    • 1995 The Langoliers
      (Laurel Stevenson) Would you please be quiet? You're scaring the little girl.
      (Craig Toomey) Scaring the little girl?! Scaring the little girl?! Lady!
Synonyms
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French

Etymology

From Latin scarus (also genus name Scarus), from Ancient Greek σκάρος ‎(skáros).

Noun

scare m ‎(plural scares)

  1. parrotfish

Anagrams

Etymology

An alteration (first attested in the 1520s) of Middle English sker ("fear, dread") (which is itself first attested c. 1400). Middle English sker is a nominal derivative of the Middle English verb skerren, which gave rise to the Modern English verb "scare". See etymology of the verb below.

Pronunciation

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