scare
Plural: scares
Noun
- sudden mass fear and anxiety over anticipated events
- "a war scare"
- "a bomb scare led them to evacuate the building"
- a sudden attack of fear
- A minor fright.
- A cause of slight terror; something that inspires fear or dread.
- A device or object used to frighten.
Verb
Verb Forms: scared, scaring, scares
- To frighten or alarm suddenly.
- cause fear in
- cause to lose courage
- To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
- (To be able) to be scared.
Adj
- lean; scanty
Examples
- a food-poisoning scare
- Did it scare you when I said "Boo!"?
- I don't scare easily.
- Johnny had a bad scare last night.
- The unexpected bingo was enough to SCARE his opponent into submission.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English sker, skere (“terror, fright”), from the verb Middle English skerren (“to frighten”) (see below).
Synonyms
affright, dash, daunt, fright, frighten, frighten away, frighten off, pall, panic, panic attack, scare away, scare off, terrify
Scrabble Score: 7
scare: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordscare: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
scare: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary