befright
verbEtymology From be- + fright. Compare German befürchten (“to be afraid of; fear”).
1
To fill with fright; make afraid; scare; frighten
- […] I would so near this knot to certainty, That its appearance shall befright the bride, Until, despairing, she shall say the wish To be a nymph again; then should she know me?1881, James Alexander Wickersham, Aliso and Acne, page 84:
- For ourselves till befright, an' till show his oul' spite, Whin he'd miss'd all the prachis he'd cum for, so far Himself, the untutor'd oul' haythen, beschuterd Us, ears over head all with boilin'-hot tar.1884, Cruck-a-Leaghan (pseud.), Lays and legends of the north of Ireland:
3 more examples
- […]With confidence, and so inscribe the chart Where white and still the void befrights the heart.1983, Gerald St. Maur, Occasional Publication, numbers 18-32, page 7:
- Mr Newbery shrugged. 'Goods will be safer there, stacked tight, than in our flimsy shops,' he said, and then went on his way to warn and befright our other neighbours. And indeed perhaps this was a good thing.2006, Mary Hooper, Petals in the Ashes, page 137:
- All round terrors befright him, and they scatter at his feet.2011, The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: