scare
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /skɛə/
ipa: /skɛɚ/
ipa: /skɪə(ɹ)/
ipa: /skeː/
note: without the cheer–chair merger
ipa: /skeə/
note: New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
ipa: /skiə/
ipa: /skeɹ/
note: Lancashire, fair–fur merger
ipa: /skɜː(ɹ)/
rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
Forms: form: scares
form: scaring
form: scared
form: scared
Etymology: From Middle English scaren, skaren, scarren, skeren, skerren, from Old Norse skirra (“to frighten; to shrink away from, shun; to prevent, avert”), from Proto-Germanic *skirzijaną (“to shoo, scare off”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to swing, jump, move”). Related to Old Norse skjarr (“timid, shy, afraid of”). Cognate with Scots skar (“wild, timid, shy”), dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk skjerra, dialectal Swedish skjarra and possibly Old Armenian ցիռ (cʻiṙ, “wild ass”).
Senses: examples: text: Did it scare you when I said "Boo!"?
text: That cannot be; the noise of thy crossbow / Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost.
ref: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], lines 6-7:
text: Late triumphs of Russian science are scaring the very dogwater out of large elements in our society, and we both fear more "purging" instead of more effort at catching up.
ref: 1957 October 20, Roy Bedichek, “to John Henry Faulk”, in Letters of Roy Bedichek, Austin, T.X.: University of Texas Press, published 1985, →ISBN, page 507:
text: (Laurel Stevenson) Would you please be quiet? You're scaring the little girl.
(Craig Toomey) Scaring the little girl?! Scaring the little girl?! Lady!
ref: 1995, The Langoliers:
text: In other words, the transaction is preferred because it is the best of bad choices. And at least one study has found that when management preannounces a deal it results in lower premiums presumably because it scares off other bidders.
ref: 2013 February 5, Steven Davidoff Solomon, “Reasons to Be Suspicious of Buyouts Led by Management”, in The New York Times:
text: Residents of Sihu Township in the central county of Yunlin were left scared and angry after hundreds of dead geese were found dumped in an irrigation channel Tuesday, inciting a minor panic as avian flu continues to spread throughout the country.
ref: 2015 January 13, “Hundreds of geese carcasses dumped in Yunlin amid bird flu scares”, in Focus Taiwan, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2024, Society:
glosses: To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
examples: text: I don't scare easily.
glosses: (To be able) to be scared.
Synonyms: frighten
terrify
Derived terms: bird-scarer
scare away
scare-babe
scare-beggar
scarecrow
scared
scaredy-cat
scare into
scaremonger
scare off
scare out of one's wits
scarer
scare-sleep
scare someone out of their mind
scare someone out of their wits
scare someone to death
scare story
scare straight
scare the bejeebers out of
scare-the-birds
scare the daylights out of
scare the hell out of
scare the hoes
scare the horses
scare the life out of
scare the living daylights out of
scare the pants off
scare the pants off of
scare the shit out of
scare up