scare the pants off

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

scare the pants off (third-person singular simple present scares the pants off, present participle scaring the pants off, simple past and past participle scared the pants off)

1. (slang, idiomatic) To scare or startle someone thoroughly.

   He liked the water rides, but the big roller-coaster scared the pants off him.

Synonyms

• scare someone's pants off