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terror

 - 5 dictionary results
Baader Meinhof Complex
The Revolution Reignites Nov. 27-29 at the Egyptian Theatre Los Angeles
www.baadermeinhofmovie.com
storytellers
Realizing our power to reduce all forms of violence and suffering.
www.onepercentapeacearmy.org

ter⋅ror

  [ter-er]
Use terror in a Sentence
–noun
1. intense, sharp, overmastering fear: to be frantic with terror.
2. an instance or cause of intense fear or anxiety; quality of causing terror: to be a terror to evildoers.
3. any period of frightful violence or bloodshed likened to the Reign of Terror in France.
4. violence or threats of violence used for intimidation or coercion; terrorism.
5. Informal. a person or thing that is especially annoying or unpleasant.
Origin:
1325–75; < L, equiv. to terr(ēre) to frighten + -or -or 1 ; r. ME terrour < AF < L, as above

Related forms:
ter⋅ror⋅ful, adjective
ter⋅ror⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
1. alarm, dismay, consternation. Terror, horror, panic, fright all imply extreme fear in the presence of danger or evil. Terror implies an intense fear that is somewhat prolonged and may refer to imagined or future dangers: frozen with terror. Horror implies a sense of shock at a danger that is also evil, and the danger may be to others rather than to oneself: to recoil in horror. Panic and fright both imply a sudden shock of fear. Fright is usually of short duration: a spasm of fright. Panic is uncontrolled and unreasoning fear, often groundless, that may be prolonged: The mob was in a panic.

Antonyms:
1. calm.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To terror
Baader Meinhof Complex
The Revolution Reignites Nov. 27-29 at the Egyptian Theatre Los Angeles
www.baadermeinhofmovie.com
storytellers
Realizing our power to reduce all forms of violence and suffering.
www.onepercentapeacearmy.org
ter·ror   (těr'ər)   
n.  

  1. Intense, overpowering fear. See Synonyms at fear.

  2. One that instills intense fear: a rabid dog that became the terror of the neighborhood.

  3. The ability to instill intense fear: the terror of jackboots pounding down the street.

  4. Violence committed or threatened by a group to intimidate or coerce a population, as for military or political purposes.

  5. Informal An annoying or intolerable pest: that little terror of a child.


[Middle English terrour, from Old French terreur, from Latin terror, from terrēre, to frighten.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

terror 
c.1375 "great fear," from O.Fr. terreur (14c.), from L. terrorem (nom. terror) "great fear, dread," from terrere "fill with fear, frighten," from PIE base *tre- "shake" (see terrible). Meaning "quality of causing dread" is attested from 1528; terror bombing first recorded 1941, with ref. to German air attack on Rotterdam. Sense of "a person fancied as a source of terror" (often with deliberate exaggeration, as of a naughty child) is recorded from 1883. The Reign of Terror in Fr. history (March 1793-July 1794) so called in Eng. from 1801. An O.E. word for "terror" was broga, also egesa.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: ter·ror
Function: noun
: an intense fear of physical injury or death terror by forced entry or unlawful assembly>; also : the infliction of such fear terror>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

terror

see holy terror.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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