scare the pants off (of) (one)

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scare the pants off (of) (one)

To shock, frighten, or terrify one. The sound of the fire alarm scared the pants off of me this morning.

scare the pants off (of) someone

to frighten someone very badly. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) Wow! You nearly scared the pants off me! The explosion scared the pants off of everyone.

scare (or bore etc.) the pants off someone

make someone extremely scared, bored, etc. informal

scare, bore, etc. the ˈpants off somebody

(informal) scare, bore, etc. somebody very much: He would creep up behind people and scare the pants off them. ♢ He was clearly boring the pants off his audience.

scare the pants off someone

tv. to frighten someone suddenly. The piano lid fell and scared the pants off my parents.