english
1
general::
verb
scare:
You will frighten the children.
Simple Definitions
2
general::
verb ADV. really The prospect of war really frightens me. | quite | almost | easily a man who doesn't frighten easily (= become frightened easily) VERB + FRIGHTEN want to | not mean to I didn't mean to frighten you. | try to PHRASES frighten sb out of their wits, frighten sb to death, frighten the life out of sb (all informal) Don't creep around like that! You frightened the life out of me!
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
3
general::
frighten sb into sth
to make someone so frightened that they do something they did not want to do , frighten sb/sth away/off
2. to make someone so nervous that they decide not to do something
• Many potential buyers were frightened off by the £1 million price tag., frighten sb/sth away/off
1. to make a person or animal feel fear in order to make them go away
• Be quiet or you'll frighten the deer off.
Cambridge-Phrasal Verbs
4
general::
see SCARE OUT OF ONE'S WITS.
American Heritage Idioms
5
general::
frighten
to make someone feel afraid:
• The thought of being in court frightened him.
scare
especially spoken to frighten someone. Scare is less formal than frighten , and is the usual word to use in everyday English:
• He was driving fast just to scare us. • It scared him to think that his mother might never recover.
terrify
to make someone feel extremely frightened:
• The idea of going down into the caves terrified her. • Robbers terrified bank staff by threatening them at gunpoint.
give somebody a fright
to make someone suddenly feel frightened in a way that makes their heart beat more quickly:
• It gave me a terrible fright when I found him unconscious on the floor.
give somebody the creeps
if a person or place gives you the creeps, they make you feel slightly frightened because they are strange:
• This house gives me the creeps.
startle
to frighten someone. Used when you suddenly see someone and did not know they were there, or when you suddenly hear something:
• I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. • The noise startled him, and he dropped his glass on the floor.
alarm
to make someone feel frightened and worried that something bad might happen:
• I didn’t want to alarm her by calling in the middle of the night.
intimidate
to deliberately frighten someone, especially so that they will do what you want:
• Many of the gangs were using dogs to intimidate people.
Longman-Thesaurus