skɛə v. & n. --v. 1 tr.
frighten,
esp. suddenly (his
expression scared us). 2 tr. (as scared adj.) (usu. foll. by
of, or to + infin.) frightened; terrified (scared of
his own shadow). 3 tr. (usu. foll. by
away,
off,
up, etc.)
drive away by frightening. 4 intr.
become scared (they don't scare easily). --n. 1 a
sudden attack of
fright (gave me a scare). 2 a
general, esp.
baseless,
fear of
war,
invasion,
epidemic, etc. (a
measles scare). 3 a
financial panic causing share-selling etc. øscaredy-cat colloq. a
timid person. scare-heading (or -head) a shockingly
sensational newspaper headline. scare up (or out) esp. US 1 frighten (game etc.)
out of
cover. 2 colloq.
manage to
find;
discover (see if we can scare up a meal). øøscarer n. [ME skerre f. ON skirra frighten f. skjarr timid]