frighten-v; 2 Senses

Sense Number 1: Cause a fearful emotion in.

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1[agent] FRIGHTEN NP2[experiencer]

Examples:
The stranger who hangs around the building frightens me.
Ghosts could never frighten her.
You frighten me so!

Mappings:
VerbNet: amuse-31.1,force-59-1
FrameNet: Experiencer_obj
PropBank: frighten.01
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1

Sense Number 2: Cause to change location, state, or action through fear.

Commentary: Includes: FRIGHTEN OFF, FRIGHTEN AWAY, FRIGHTEN OUT Syntax Includes: NP1[agent] FRIGHTEN OFF/AWAY/OUT NP2[patient] NP1[agent] FRIGHTEN NP2[patient] PP

Examples:
She frightened him into taking the exam.
He frightened the rabbits out of the brush.
They frighten off visitors every time.
You can't frighten the substance into vaporizing - it's a chemical reaction!

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: frighten.02,frighten.03
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 2
WordNet Verb Particle Constructions, Multiword Expressions:
frighten_off 1
frighten_away 1