Scare (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scared (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Scaring.]
[OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun ,
shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both
perhaps akin to E. sheer to turn.] To frighten; to strike with sudden
fear; to alarm.
The noise of thy crossbow Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is
lost.
Shak.
To scare away, to drive away by frightening. -- To scare up, to find by
search, as if by beating for game. [Slang]
Syn. -- To alarm; frighten; startle; affright; terrify.
Scare, n. Fright; esp., sudden fright produced by a trifling cause, or
originating in mistake. [Colloq.]
Scare"crow` (?), n. 1. Anything set up to frighten crows or other birds
from cornfields; hence, anything terifying without danger.
A scarecrow set to frighten fools away.
Dryden.