run scared vs startle

run scared

verb
  • To be in a state of fearful alarm. 

startle

verb
  • To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start. 

  • To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise. 

noun
  • A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger. 

How often have the words run scared and startle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )