Verb
You scared me. I didn't see you there.
Stop that, you're scaring the children. Noun
There have been scares about the water supply being contaminated.
fired over their heads in order to throw a scare into them
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Verb
Late one night, with the neighbors’ dogs loose once again, Courtney Guarnieri fired shots into the darkness to scare them away.—Thomas Lake, AJC.com, 12 June 2026 The scientists only got a passing glimpse of the goblin shark before the lights and loud noise from the ROV's motor scared it away, Auscavitch told ABC News.—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 12 June 2026
Noun
Obsession uses the fear of confrontation to its advantage, translating that anxiety into genuine scares.—Emma Stefansky, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026 The singer explained that the health scare impacted her ability to both speak and sing.—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 5 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for scare
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English skerren, from Old Norse skirra, from skjarr shy, timid