startle

1. (intransitive) To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.Examples: "a horse that startles easily"; "Why shrinks the soul / Back on herself, and startles at destruction?"; "He felt, too, that he was acting unjustly by Ethel: he had allowed a fortnight to elapse—he startled when he numbered up the days; it is strange how we allow them to glide imperceptibly away."Synonyms: startintransitive

2. (transitive) To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.Examples: "The supposition, at least, that angels do sometimes assume bodies need not startle us."; "Nothing could startle her, make her scold or make her cry. She did not complain, she did not rebel."; "The high voice in the night air startled me. Without thinking, I started to run. Then stopped. I spun around, my heart heaving against my chest. And saw a boy. About my age."transitive

3. (transitive, obsolete) To deter; to cause to deviate.Examples: "it would blast all their hopes, and startle all other princes from joining"; "As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note."Synonyms: deterobsoletetransitive