frighten away
phr. v..phr. v.. to make a person or animal feel afraid so that they leave or stay far from you.
phr. v.. to cause a person or animal to depart or avoid a location through the use of fear or intimidation; a transitive phrasal verb often used in the context of deterring unwanted visitors or wildlife.
The loud dog will frighten away any burglars.
If you make too much noise while walking through the woods, you will frighten away the birds.
The sudden implementation of aggressive tax laws served only to frighten away potential foreign investors who were previously keen on the market.
this phrase is separable, meaning the object can go between 'frighten' and 'away'.
compare with 'scare off', which is more common in informal speech; 'frighten away' is slightly more formal but functions identically.
The noise frightened away them.The noise frightened them away.when the object is a pronoun like 'them', it must go between the verb and the particle.