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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

In their colorful garb, participants move to the sounds of drums and loud music meant to both honor the ancestors and scare away lingering spirits. —

Sasha C. Wells / Made By History, TIME, 26 Dec. 2024 Strings of old beer cans and potato chip packets, designed to scare away elephants, adorn the walls of roadside homes. —

Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024 When Deadline visits Sky Studios Elstree there is a hawk named Zeus arriving on site to scare off smaller birds making their homes in the warmth of the site’s 12 soundstages. —

Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 2 Dec. 2024 The family worried the shooting would once again scare off their customers, who hailed from every neighborhood from Western Hills to Anderson Township. —

Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 27 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for scare away/off

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“Scare away/off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scare%20away%2Foff. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

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