major, terrible
a major health scare

minor | bomb | food, health | Aids, BSE, etc.

cause | give sb
It wasn''t a serious heart attack, but it gave him a terrible scare.

get, have

story, tactics
The government used scare tactics to get parents to have their children vaccinated against the disease.

~ about/over
the scare over British beef

a bit of a/quite a scare
I got a bit of a scare when the police rang.

really | easily
He doesn''t scare easily.

try to

into
They''re just trying to scare us into letting out the secret.

with
You don''t scare me with your threats!

scare sb silly/stiff/to death
(informal) The very thought of flying scares me stiff.

scare the hell/life/living daylights out of sb
(informal) You scared the life out of me, hiding like that!

scare the pants off sb
(informal)