- [countable] (used especially in newspapers) a situation in which a lot of people are anxious or frightened about something
- a health scare
- recent scares about pesticides in food
- a scare story (= a news report that spreads more anxiety or fear about something than is necessary)
- to cause a major scare
- scare tactics (= ways of persuading people to do something by frightening them)
Extra ExamplesTopics Feelingsb2- The ad uses scare tactics to get people to stop smoking.
- There was a bomb scare at the airport.
- the scare over bird flu
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- major
- nasty
- terrible
- …
- cause
- give somebody
- get
- …
- campaign
- story
- tactics
- …
- scare about
- scare over
- a bit of a scare
- quite a scare
Definitions on the go
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- [singular] a sudden feeling of fear
- You gave me a scare!
- We've had quite a scare.
Extra Examples- I got quite a scare when the police called me.
- It wasn't a serious heart attack, but it gave him a terrible scare.
- Les had a health scare two years ago and was ordered to cut down on drinking.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjectivesee also scary- major
- nasty
- terrible
- …
- cause
- give somebody
- get
- …
- campaign
- story
- tactics
- …
- scare about
- scare over
- a bit of a scare
- quite a scare
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old Norse skirra ‘frighten’, from skjarr ‘timid’.
Check pronunciation:
scare