Verb
You scared me. I didn't see you there.
Stop that, you're scaring the children. Noun
There have been scares about the water supply being contaminated.
fired over their heads in order to throw a scare into them
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Verb
Stop using implausible scenarios to scare young people and the gullible with claims about global catastrophe due to future global temperature increases.—Editorial, Boston Herald, 29 May 2026 Sizable jury verdicts scare entities into expensive settlements, which raises the risk pool’s reinsurance costs and trickles down to members.—Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 29 May 2026
Noun
Despite a large scale evacuation affecting tens of thousands of residents across Garden Grove, Stanton and Anaheim, there have been no reports of looting after people fled their homes due to a chemical scare, officials said.—Daniel Tedford, Oc Register, 23 May 2026 But the scares were middling to begin with because Øvredal — a game but overeager trickster — telegraphs his set pieces as if he were equipped with a flare gun and detour cones.—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for scare
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English skerren, from Old Norse skirra, from skjarr shy, timid