scare (one) to death

scare (one) to death

To shock or frighten one very suddenly and/or severely. Hyperbolically alludes to frightening someone so badly as to cause them to die. Don't sneak up on me like that, you scared me to death! Waking up to the sound of the howler monkeys nearly scared us to death. We had no idea what it was coming from.See also: death, scare