fright

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violent fear, usually of short duration; a sudden alarm.

   “With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hobhouse Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Someone strange, ugly or shocking, producing a feeling of alarm or aversion.

   “Her maids were old, and if she took a new one, You might be sure she was a perfect fright; She did this during even her husband's life I recommend as much to every wife.”

verb

1. (archaic, transitive)To frighten.

   “Are not you he […] That frights the maidens of the villagery […] ?”

   “Little Miss Muffet, She sat on a tuffet, Eating of curds and whey; There came a little spider, Who sat down beside her, And frighted Miss Muffet away.”

   “A very fine situation was proposed to him, where he might have a noble view of the ocean; but he started back, with an attitude of terror Betterton might envy, when Hamlet meets his father's ghost, and cried out,—"Oh, Christ! the sea looks so fierce that it frights me!”

adj

1. (rare)frightened; afraid; affright

   “Don't be fright, it is not so impossible as it seems.”

   “Don't be fright, I'm not going to hurt you.”

   “He had a great heavy jaw and shoulders like an ox and bore no resemblance to Maurice Leonard. 'Come along, lad,' the sergeant said. 'Come along. Don't be fright. It's what you're here for now, ain't it?'”