scare up

verb

scared up; scaring up; scares up

transitive verb

: to find or get together with considerable labor or difficulty : scrape up

managed to scare up the money

Synonyms

• find
• learn
• discover
• locate
• get
• track (down)

Examples of scare up in a Sentence

I can probably scare up my old textbooks if you need them.

Recent Examples on the Web

The implementation of Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel currency already promises to help juice the TV ratings, and a recent tweak to the company’s out-of-home measurement system is expected to scare up even bigger crowds in hitherto underserved markets from South Bend to Tallahassee. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Anna Faris and Regina Hall are scaring up a reunion. —Katcy Stephan, Variety, 15 Aug. 2025

The genre doesn’t usually travel well, but Weapons is an exception, scaring up strong results in normally horror-resistant markets in Europe and Latin America. —Pamela McClintock, HollywoodReporter, 10 Aug. 2025

Pete Davidson horror The Home by The Purge helmer James DeMonaco is looking to scare up audiences on 1,014 screens. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 25 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for scare up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup

Kids Definition

scare up

verb

: to find or get together with much labor or difficulty

managed to scare up the money