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frighten
The definition of frighten is to cause fear or to make someone afraid or anxious.
(verb)When you tell a child a very scary ghost story, this is an example of a situation where you frighten the child.
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See frighten in Webster's New World College Dictionary
transitive verb
- to cause to feel fright; make suddenly afraid; scare; terrify
- to force (away, out, or off) or bring (into a specified condition) by making afraid: to frighten someone into confessing
intransitive verb
to become suddenly afraid
Related Forms:
- frighteningly adverb
See frighten in American Heritage Dictionary 4
verb fright·ened, fright·en·ing, fright·ens verb, transitive
- To fill with fear; alarm.
- To drive or force by arousing fear: The suspect was frightened into confessing.
To become afraid.
Related Forms:
- frightˈen·er noun
- frightˈen·ing·ly adverb
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