scaring up
Finding with effort
To scare up something is to find or gather it through effort or improvisation, often when resources are scarce: I managed to scare up enough chairs for everyone, Let me see if I can scare up some lunch.
The phrase suggests scrounging or rustling up what's needed from whatever is available.
It comes from the hunting sense of flushing game birds from cover.
- procuringGetting through effort
- searchingLooking to find
- tracking downSearching until found
- improvisingCreating spontaneously without plan
- scraping togetherCollecting with effort
scarce · in short supply · scavenging · locating · gathering · limited · difficult · foraging · elusive · collecting · scrounging · rare · hard to find · retrieving · hunting · constrained · last minute · urgent
action direction
scaring updispersing
Spreading widely apart
scattering · losing · squandering · dissipating · depleting