take fright

verb

To suddenly become scared, frightened or panicked.

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Meanings

verbtake fright (third-person singular simple present takes fright, present participle taking fright, simple past took fright, past participle taken fright)

present singular third person takes fright · participle present taking fright · past took fright · participle past taken fright

  1. To suddenly become scared, frightened or panicked.
    1 more example

    Meredith referred to the turnpike or carriage road constructed by the Tredegar Iron Company alongside the tramroad from Penllwyn Mawr to Tredegar, and said there was no fence between the two; he had experienced narrow escapes at times when on horseback, for horses occasionally took fright when meeting locomotives.

    1939 September, Charles E. Lee, “The Sirhowy Valley and its Railways—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 207
Cite this entry
APA

take fright. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20fright

MLA

“take fright.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20fright. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take fright,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20fright.

Source: take fright on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.