(historical) A period during the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of far-left extremism, including but not limited to Bolshevism, socialism, and anarchism.

(historical) A period in the United States between the 1940s and 1950s marked by a widespread fear of communism and socialism; McCarthyism.

Alternative form of scare the living daylights out of

(transitive, informal) To frighten someone to such an extent that they behave irrationally.

(idiomatic) To scare something or someone to a large degree.

plural of scaredy-cat

A coward; a person who is easily frightened or high-strung and easily scared.

Alternative form of scaredy-cat (“coward”)

(childish) A coward.

plural of scaredy cat