frighten

present singular third person frightens · participle present frightening · participle past frightened · past frightened · alternative obsolete freighten

1. transitiveTo cause to feel fear; to scare; to cause to feel alarm or fright.

   Avery puts a sheet over her head, pretending to be a ghost to frighten Emily.

   3 more examples

   His Deſign was only to frighten France, and get more Money.

   1746, Isaac Kimber, “Henry VII”, in The History of England, from the Earliest Accounts to the Accession of His Present Majesty King George II. […] , page 217

   You may frighten a pig, a goose, a frog, and even a fly, but you cannot frighten or surprise a sloth.

   1883, Felix Leopold Oswald, “A Step-child of Nature”, in Zoological Sketches[:] A Contribution to the Out-door Study of Natural History, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., page 90

   And he commanded his soldiers […] to frighten them with fierce swords, but the hearts of the holy men did not quail, and they were unable to alter their words.

   1928, E. A. Wallis Budge, transl., The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church[:] A translation of the Ethiopic Synaxarium […] , volume 1, London: Cambridge University Press, page 220

2. intransitiveTo become scared or alarmed.

   Be sneaky. Fish frighten easily.

   1995 April 28, Jeff Csatari, “Tackle Tips”, in Boys' Life, volume 85, number 4, Irving, Texas: Boy Scouts of America, Inc., →ISSN, page 42

   2 more examples

   In fitting the White Leghorns for exhibition, it must be remembered that they are of nervous disposition and frighten easily.

   1898, Franklane L. Sewell, Ida E. Tilson, “White Leghorns”, in The Poultry Herald Manual[:] A Guide to Successful Poultry Keeping, St. Paul, Minnesota: Webb Publishing Company, page 41

   Those male moose at the southeast arm didn't frighten very much when we docked to fly-fish one day. One was so scared of us he just walked toward us and snorted.

   1959, Harold G. (Hack) Miller, “Rod and gun”, in Hearings […] , Washington: United States Government Printing Office, page 101