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# frighten

«frighten» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make someone feel scared** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (frighten, frightens, frightened, frightening)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To frighten means to make someone feel scared. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#m1)

2) To frighten away or off means to scare an animal or person so they go away. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In feelings lessons, children learn what to do when something frightens them: breathe, talk to an adult, remember fears are normal. In nature, shouting can frighten birds and animals, and a frightened animal may bite or run. In stories, ghosts and storms frighten characters. Phrases: frighten away, frighten off, frightened of, frighten to death.

### examples

- The thunder frightened the little dog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x1)
- Don't run at the ducks; you'll frighten them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x2)
- Loud noises frighten our baby. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x3)
- I was frightened of the dark when I was little. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x4)
- The scarecrow frightens birds away from the corn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x5)
- The spooky story frightened everyone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x6)
- A frightened cat may scratch, so leave it alone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x7)
- You frightened me, creeping up like that! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x8)
- "You frighten me," said the rose--tree. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/#x9)

### note

Frighten = make scared; frightened = feeling scared (frightened of something); frightening = causing fear. «Scare» is the everyday word with the same meaning. The gh is silent: «FRY-ten».

### In the corpora

- [If a grown-up's anger ever makes you frightened for your safety, tell another trusted adult.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/36-big-feelings-in-big-people/10/)
- [Tapping on glass, shouting and flash photos frighten animals, which cannot leave as easily as visitors can.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/115-why-zoos-exist-and-what-critics-say/16/)
- [Videos of tickled pet lorises raising their arms are not cute: the loris is frightened and getting ready to bite.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/162-sumatra-tigers-hairy-rhinos-and-the-venomous-loris/12/)
- [It usually means a happy cat, but cats also purr when they are hurt or frightened.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/197-cats-purring-whiskers-night-eyes-and-grooming/3/)
- [The frightened old horse rears and backs, and drags the cart into the deep ditch: crash!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/32-willows-ch2-part4-the-wreck-and-the-new-craze/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «frighten» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/frighten/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.