scare
- 01 A2 Elementary
v.to make someone feel afraid or nervous.
v.to cause fear, alarm, or anxiety in a person or animal. Transitive — takes a direct object.
Simple“The sudden thunder scared the cat, and it ran under the sofa.”
In context“The sudden drop in stock prices scared many first-time investors into selling their shares prematurely.”
PitfallThe loud noise scared to me. The loud noise scared me.The verb 'scare' is transitive and takes a direct object without the preposition 'to'.
- 02 B1 Intermediate
n.a feeling of being suddenly afraid, or a situation that causes this.
n.a sudden attack of fear or alarm; often used for a personal experience of fright.
Simple“You gave me a real scare when you jumped out from behind the door.”
In context“The patient had a health scare last year that prompted him to adopt a much stricter exercise routine.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a situation where many people are worried about a specific danger, like a disease or a food problem.
n.a period of widespread public alarm or panic, often regarding health, safety, or the economy.
Simple“There was a big food scare when some milk was found to be unsafe.”
In context“The recent bomb scare forced the authorities to evacuate the entire terminal while security teams conducted a thorough sweep.”
“My windows are so rotten I am scared they will fall out.”
“Their seven-year-old son has stopped playing outside, Sandra says, and for months, the little boy told his father not to go to work – scared he might not return.”
From Middle English sker, skere (“terror, fright”), from the verb Middle English skerren (“to frighten”) (see below).
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.