scare away
Definition
- Verb (transitive):
- To cause someone or something to leave or stay away by frightening them; to deter or discourage through fear or intimidation.
Usage
- This verb is used when an action or presence causes fear that results in someone fleeing or something being prevented from happening or approaching.
- It typically takes a direct object (the person or thing being scared away).
- Often used in both literal (physical fleeing) and figurative (discouraging action) contexts.
Examples
- Literal use:
- The loud noise scared away the birds from the garden.
- The guard dog's barking is enough to scare away any intruders.
- Figurative use:
- The high price of the course scared away many potential students.
- His aggressive negotiating style tends to scare away potential business partners.
Advanced Usage
- "to scare someone/something away from something": To deter someone from a specific place, activity, or idea.
- The recent bad publicity has scared investors away from the company.
- A negative early experience can scare a child away from trying a sport again.
Variants and Related Words
- Scare off: A phrasal verb with an identical meaning to "scare away."
- They put up a fake security camera to scare off thieves.
- Frighten away: A synonym with the same core meaning.
- Deter: A more formal synonym meaning to discourage or prevent from acting.
Synonyms
- Frighten off
- Drive away
- Intimidate
- Daunt
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Scare up: To find or obtain something with difficulty (different meaning).
- I'll try to scare up some extra chairs for the meeting.
- Scare into: To frighten someone so that they do a specific thing.
- The news report scared her into buying a home security system.
Related Idioms
- To scare the living daylights out of someone: To frighten someone very much.
- That sudden crash scared the living daylights out of me!
Verb
-
cause to lose courage
-
dashed by the refusal
-
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