INTIMIDATE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does intimidate mean? 

• INTIMIDATE (verb)
  The verb INTIMIDATE has 2 senses:

1. make timid or fearful

2. to compel or deter by or as if by threats

  Familiarity information: INTIMIDATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTIMIDATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they intimidate    ... he / she / it intimidates   
Past simple: intimidated   
Past participle: intimidated   
-ing form: intimidating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make timid or fearful

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

Her boss intimidates her

Hypernyms (to "intimidate" is one way to...):

affright; fright; frighten; scare (cause fear in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "intimidate"):

hold over (intimidate somebody (with a threat))

ballyrag; boss around; browbeat; bully; bullyrag; hector; push around; strong-arm (be bossy towards)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot intimidate Sue

Derivation:

intimidation (the act of intimidating a weaker person to make them do something)

intimidation (a communication that makes you afraid to try something)

intimidation (the feeling of being intimidated; being made to feel afraid or timid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To compel or deter by or as if by threats

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "intimidate" is one way to...):

discourage (deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged)

"Intimidate" entails doing...:

warn (notify of danger, potential harm, or risk)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "intimidate"):

dash; daunt; frighten away; frighten off; pall; scare; scare away; scare off (cause to lose courage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot intimidate Sue

Derivation:

intimidation (the act of intimidating a weaker person to make them do something)

intimidation (a communication that makes you afraid to try something)

 Context examples 

He was a coward, afraid to strike me because I had not quailed sufficiently in advance; so he chose a new way to intimidate me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"Feeling like a workout needs to be at a peak exertion level for a long duration can intimidate those who suffer from chronic inflammatory diseases and could greatly benefit from physical activity."

(Just 20 Minutes of Walking May Reduce Inflammation in Your Body, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

As I spoke, rage sparkled in my eyes; the magistrate was intimidated.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He was sprawling along between some bushes, when he heard a sharp intimidating cry.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

But, in such a cause, his anger, though it must shock, could not intimidate Henry, who was sustained in his purpose by a conviction of its justice.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I now stood in the empty hall; before me was the breakfast-room door, and I stopped, intimidated and trembling.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Therefore the hair stood up on end along his back and his lips wrinkled weakly in an attempt at a ferocious and intimidating snarl.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I am not to be intimidated into anything so wholly unreasonable.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He heard again the intimidating cry, and at the same instant received a sharp blow on the side of the neck and felt the sharp teeth of the mother-weasel cut into his flesh.

(White Fang, by Jack London)