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Definition of frighten verb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

  

frighten

 verb
verb
NAmE//ˈfraɪtn//
 
[transitive, intransitive] frighten (somebody) frighten somebody to do somethingVerb Forms present simple I / you / we / they frighten
 
he / she / it frightens
 
past simple frightened
 
-ing form frightening
 
 
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  •  to make someone suddenly feel afraid Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. She's not easily frightened. She doesn't frighten easily (= it is not easy to make her afraid).
    • Thesaurusscare
    • frighten
    • alarm
    • terrify
    These words all mean to make someone afraid.
    • scare to make someone feel afraid:They managed to scare away the bears.
    • frighten to make someone feel afraid, often suddenly:She brought out a gun and frightened them off.
    scare or frighten?
    • Frighten is slightly more formal than scare.
    • alarm to make someone anxious or afraid:I am alarmed at how quickly this decision was made. Alarm is used when someone has a feeling that something unpleasant or dangerous might happen in the future; the feeling is often more one of worry than actual fear.
    • terrify to make someone feel extremely afraid:Flying terrified her.
    Patterns
    • to scare/frighten somebody/something away/off
    • to scare/frighten/terrify somebody into doing something
    • It scares/frightens/alarms/terrifies me >that…>
    • It scares/frightens/alarms/terrifies me >to>think, see, etc.
    Idioms
    scare/frighten the (living) daylights out of somebody (informal)
     
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    to scare someone very much
    scare/frighten the life out of somebody
     
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    to frighten someone very much You scared the life out of me coming in so suddenly like that.
    scare/frighten somebody to death
     
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    to frighten someone very much Spiders scare him to death.     Phrasal Verbsfrighten awayfrighten into doing
    See frighten in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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