• (RP) IPA: /skɛə/
• (America) IPA: /skɛɚ/
• IPA: /skɪə(ɹ)/

From Middle English sker, skere, from the verb Middle English skerren (see below).

scare (plural scares)

1. A minor fright.

   Johnny had a bad scare last night.

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

   a food-poisoning scare

3. A device or object used to frighten.

• fright

• French: peur
• German: Schreck
• Italian: timore
• Portuguese: susto
• Russian: испу́г
• Spanish: susto

• Italian: spavento, paura
• Russian: пу́гало

From Middle English scaren, skaren, scarren, skeren, skerren, from Old Norse skirra, from Proto-Germanic *skirzijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-.

scare (scares, present participle scaring; simple past and past participle scared)

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

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

   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene i], lines 6-7:

     That cannot be; the noise of thy crossbow / Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost.

   • 1995, The Langoliers:

     (Laurel Stevenson) Would you please be quiet? You're scaring the little girl.
     (Craig Toomey) Scaring the little girl?! Scaring the little girl?! Lady!''

• frighten
• terrify
• See also Thesaurus:frighten

• French: effrayer
• German: erschrecken, beängstigen, ängstigen
• Italian: spaventare, impaurire, spaurire
• Portuguese: assustar
• Russian: пуга́ть
• Spanish: asustar, atemorizar, espantar

scare

1. lean; scanty