verb
definition
To cause to feel fear; to scare; to cause to feel alarm or fright.
example
Avery puts a sheet over her head, pretending to be a ghost to frighten Emily.
Examples of frighten in a Sentence
Maybe a little noise would frighten the animal away.
That's a thing to frighten me with!
For a moment she lay still, afraid any movement would frighten him away like a wild cat in the daylight.
But how he did frighten me...
Some cuckoos are singular for their habit of using the nests of smaller birds to lay their eggs in, so that the young may be reared by foster-parents; and it has been suggested that the object of the likeness exhibited to the hawk is to enable the cock cuckoo either to frighten the small birds away from their nests or to lure them in pursuit of him, while the hen bird quietly and without molestation disposes of her egg.
This expression in Princess Mary did not frighten them (she never inspired fear in anyone), but they knew that when it appeared on her face, she became mute and was not to be shaken in her determination.
And then there was the fact that it might frighten Jonathan.
You'll frighten them! said Boris.
The story that Pyrrhus attempted to frighten Fabricius by the sight of an elephant is probably a fiction.
The Jacobins tried to frighten the king into accepting the decrees and recalling his ministers.
Ringing a bell on Halloween night will frighten evil spirits away.
For a time the government, while keeping itself informed of his activities, left him alone; for it suited the Directory to let the socialist agitation continue, in order to frighten the people from joining in any royalist movement for the overthrow of the existing regime.
A belief in the spectre-hound still lingers in the wild parts of the north country of England, and in Nidderdale, Yorkshire, nurses frighten children with its name.
If he was trying to frighten her, he was doing an excellent job.
Franklin, appealed to by the governor, raised a troop sufficient to frighten away the " Paxton boys," and for the moment there seemed a possibility of an understanding between Franklin and the proprietors.
Risings broke out at Urbino and in Romagna, and the papal troops were defeated; Cesare could find no allies, and it seemed as though all Italy was about to turn against the hated family, when the French king promised help, and this was enough to frighten the confederates into coming to terms. Most of them had shown very little political or military skill, and several were ready to betray each other.
Also known as cavies, guinea pigs tend to be neurotic and can frighten quite easily.
The warriors range from ninjas to swordsmen to odd guys dressed to frighten you.
It doesn't occur to Libra that this explanation might frighten a small child.
And of course, there are movie ghosts whose intent is to frighten, and frighten they do.
Jennifer asked "Probably to frighten us off," Dean answered.
She thought about bringing Jonathan to see him, but it might frighten him.
This really spooked me but as I was fearful that I'd " frighten " my dad away, I continued chatting calmly.
As I have got older I have become less inclined to frighten myself and part of the reason I enjoy sport climbing very much.
I am so repulsive that when I look in a mirror I frighten myself.
Don't let the technology frighten you since you can throw these shorts in the washing machine just like all of your other rugged clothing.
Bleating noises from bureaucrats in Brussels who see their expense accounts under threat only tend to frighten children of a very timorous disposition.
Brandishing spears, swords, or stolen swords, their skin patterned with blue woad to frighten thei enemy.
This really spooked me but as I was fearful that I 'd " frighten " my dad away, I continued chatting calmly.
Their goal is to frighten the public and intimidate regulators into further tightening the already stultifying regulation of biotechnology.
The screaming, flailing, and kicking that accompany a night terror may frighten parents who fear the child is having a seizure.
Sweater dresses made with lightweight cotton knits that emphasize every imperfection may frighten those without tight, toned bodies, but thicker fabrics can highlight your best features while disguising the things you don't like.
In Homer he frequently appears on the field, like Ares and Athene, bearing the aegis to frighten the foe.
The ecological fallacy has become a bugbear to frighten people away from interpreting social observations in collective terms.
If he thought to frighten the striped beast by such language he was mistaken.
Publicized crimes involving childhood abductions, although rare occurrences, frighten many parents and make them unsure about how best to protect their children.