scare
A minor fright.
Example
“Johnny had a bad scare last night.”
Other meanings
A cause of terror or alarm; a panic; something that inspires fear or dread.
“a food-poisoning scare”
A device or object used to frighten.
Word history
From Middle English "skerren" (to frighten).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “scare” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.