scare away/off
phrasal verb
scared away/off; scaring away/off; scares away/off
: to cause (someone or something) to go away and stay away because of fear or because of possible trouble, difficulty, etc.
The dog scared the prowler away.
The noise scared off the birds.
Tourists have been scared off by the recent violence in the city.
Examples of scare away/off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
According to a local legend, the masks and black faces with soot helped to scare away the Turks in the 16th century.
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Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
Bouchard’s uneven season might be enough to scare away some NHL teams, but not all; the brazen work by the St. Louis Blues has worked out well for the team’s general manager (Doug Armstrong).
—Allan Mitchell, The Athletic, 21 Feb. 2025
The mere fact of a protective detail can be enough to scare away prospective assassins, as happened when an armed gunman turned himself in to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s detail.
—The Editors, National Review, 23 Jan. 2025
Ultimately jurors had to assess the authenticity of the gun used in the incident, which the defense argued was a prop gun that Rocky carried to scare off attackers and fired only as a warning.
—Driadonna Roland, refinery29.com, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scare away/off
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Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025
Bouchard’s uneven season might be enough to scare away some NHL teams, but not all; the brazen work by the St. Louis Blues has worked out well for the team’s general manager (Doug Armstrong).
—Allan Mitchell, The Athletic, 21 Feb. 2025
The mere fact of a protective detail can be enough to scare away prospective assassins, as happened when an armed gunman turned himself in to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s detail.
—The Editors, National Review, 23 Jan. 2025
Ultimately jurors had to assess the authenticity of the gun used in the incident, which the defense argued was a prop gun that Rocky carried to scare off attackers and fired only as a warning.
—Driadonna Roland, refinery29.com, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scare away/off
Cite this Entry
“Scare away/off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scare%20away%2Foff. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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