| / English Dictionary |
TERROR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The use of extreme fear in order to coerce people (especially for political reasons)
Example:
he used terror to make them confess
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("terror" is a kind of...):
coercion (the act of compelling by force of authority)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "terror"):
act of terrorism; terrorism; terrorist act (the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("terror" is a kind of...):
fear; fearfulness; fright (an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "terror"):
swivet (a panic or extreme discomposure)
Derivation:
terrify; terrorise (fill with terror; frighten greatly)
terrorise (coerce by violence or with threats)
terrorist (a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities)
terrorize (fill with terror; frighten greatly)
terrorize (coerce by violence or with threats)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A very troublesome child
Synonyms:
brat; holy terror; little terror; terror
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("terror" is a kind of...):
imp; monkey; rapscallion; rascal; scalawag; scallywag; scamp (one who is playfully mischievous)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A person who inspires fear or dread
Example:
he was the terror of the neighborhood
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("terror" is a kind of...):
individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)
Derivation:
terrorist (a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities)
Context examples:
They were brutes, but he was the arch-brute, a thing of terror that towered over them and dominated them.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
That a letter from Edmund should be a subject of terror!
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
The terror which the woman and boy had been creating in Harriet was then their own portion.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
A mad, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Yet there they sat, driven clean mad with terror, and Brenda lying dead of fright, with her head hanging over the arm of the chair.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“He was just the same as that when I joined the ring twenty years ago. Time was when he was the terror of London.”
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I saw his eyes flash golden as he spoke, and I saw the terror mount in her own.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Again her eyes travelled around the room, and the terror in them leaped up at sight of the other bunk.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
It causes panic attacks, which are sudden feelings of terror when there is no real danger.
(Panic Disorder, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)
Then a panic seized the Yeehats, and they fled in terror to the woods, proclaiming as they fled the advent of the Evil Spirit.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
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