a sudden attack of fear
"The loud bang caused me to have a scare, and I jumped three feet in the air."
A minor fright.
"The loud bang from outside gave me a scare, but I quickly realized it was just the neighbor's dog barking."
cause to lose courage
"dashed by the refusal"
To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
"The loud noise from the car backfired and only managed to scare the dog momentarily."
In plain English: To scare someone is to make them feel very afraid or worried about something dangerous happening right now.
"The loud noise scared the cat into hiding under the couch."
Usage: Use scare to describe causing someone sudden fear or anxiety through an unexpected event rather than prolonged terror. It is often confused with the noun form "scare," which refers specifically to the frightening incident itself.
lean; scanty
"The scare crop failed to provide enough food for the winter."
The word scare comes from Middle English sker, which originally meant terror or fright. It entered modern usage as a noun and verb directly related to that original sense of causing fear.