Dictionary

befright en · VERB

Etymology

From be- + fright. Compare German befürchten (“to be afraid of; fear”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To fill with fright; make afraid; scare; frighten
   • All round terrors befright him, and they scatter at his feet. 2011, The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes:
   • 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:
   • 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:
   • […]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:
   • […] 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:

Forms