What does scare mean?

Definitions for scare
skɛərscare

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word scare.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. panic, scarenoun

    sudden mass fear and anxiety over anticipated events

    "panic in the stock market"; "a war scare"; "a bomb scare led them to evacuate the building"

  2. scare, panic attackverb

    a sudden attack of fear

  3. frighten, fright, scare, affrightverb

    cause fear in

    "The stranger who hangs around the building frightens me"; "Ghosts could never affright her"

  4. daunt, dash, scare off, pall, frighten off, scare away, frighten away, scareverb

    cause to lose courage

    "dashed by the refusal"

Wiktionary

  1. scarenoun

    A minor fright

    Johnny had a bad scare last night.

  2. scarenoun

    A cause of slight terror; something that inspires fear or dread.

    JM is a scare to the capitalists of this country.

  3. scareverb

    To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.

    Did that scare you when I said "Boo!"?

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To SCAREverb

    Etymology: scorare, Italian. Skinner.

    They have scared away two of my best sheep, which, I fear, the wolf will sooner find than the master. William Shakespeare.

    Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits. William Shakespeare.

    My grained ash an hundred times hath broke,
    And scar’d the moon with splinters. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

    The noise of thy cross-bow
    Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost. William Shakespeare, H. VI.

    Scarecrows are set up to keep birds from corn and fruit; and some report that the head of a wolf, whole, dried, and hanged up in a dovehouse, will scare away vermin. Francis Bacon.

    The wing of the Irish was so grievously either galled or scared therewith, that being strangers, and in a manner neutrals, they had neither good heart to go forward, nor good liking to stand still, nor good assurance to run away. John Hayward.

    The light
    Waves threaten now, as that was scar’d by fire. Edmund Waller.

    One great reason why mens good purposes so often fail, is, that when they are devout, or scared, they then in the general resolve to live religiously. Edmund Calamy, Sermons.

    Let wanton wives by death be scar’d;
    But, to my comfort, I’m prepar’d. Matthew Prior.

Wikipedia

  1. scare

    Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear in human beings may occur in response to a certain stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to oneself. The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat (also known as the fight-or-flight response), which in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) can be a freeze response or paralysis. In humans and other animals, fear is modulated by the process of cognition and learning. Thus, fear is judged as rational or appropriate and irrational or inappropriate. An irrational fear is called a phobia. Fear is closely related to the emotion anxiety, which occurs as the result of threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable. The fear response serves survival by engendering appropriate behavioral responses, so it has been preserved throughout evolution. Sociological and organizational research also suggests that individuals' fears are not solely dependent on their nature but are also shaped by their social relations and culture, which guide their understanding of when and how much fear to feel.Fear is sometimes incorrectly considered the opposite of courage. For the reason that courage is a willingness to face adversity, fear is an example of a condition that makes the exercise of courage possible.

ChatGPT

  1. scare

    Scare refers to the sudden feeling of fear or fright often caused by something frightful or shocking. It can also refer to the act of causing such a fear in someone else.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Scareverb

    to frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm

  2. Scarenoun

    fright; esp., sudden fright produced by a trifling cause, or originating in mistake

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Scare

    skār, v.t. to drive away by frightening: to strike with sudden terror: to startle, to affright.—n. an imaginary alarm: a sudden panic.—adj. lean, scanty.—ns. Scare′-babe, a bugbear; Scare′-bug; Scare′crow, anything set up to scare away crows or other birds: a vain cause of terror: a person meanly clad: the black tern; Scare′-fire, a fire-alarm: a conflagration. [M. E. skerrenskerre, frightened—Ice. skjarr, timid.]

Matched Categories

Anagrams for scare »

  1. acres

  2. cares

  3. caser

  4. ceras

  5. e-cars

  6. races

  7. sacre

  8. serac

  9. carse

  10. scrae

How to pronounce scare?

How to say scare in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of scare in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of scare in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of scare in a Sentence

  1. Michaela Coel:

    Write the tales that scare you, that make you feel uncertain that isn't comfortable. I dare you, in a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others to help us better determine how we feel about ourselves and to in turn feel the need to be constantly visible -- for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success -- do not be afraid to disappear. From it, from us, for a while and see what comes to you in the silence.

  2. Fred Robinson:

    Scare the rank-and-file whites to believe that somebody else is the problem : Jews are the problem. Blacks are the problem. Mexicans are the problem. Homosexuals are the problem. It works magically because it's baked in our cultural narrative.

  3. Ian Kernohan:

    We had coordinated central bank action at the height of the crisis but I don't think we are at that stage now, is it the central banks' job to prop up markets all the time? Are we in a crisis, or are we just having a scare from weak China manufacturing data?

  4. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf:

    If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough.

  5. Debasish Mridha, M.D.:

    Fear is a perception to dare but not to scare.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for scare

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"scare." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/scare>.

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