[syn: terror, brat, little terror, holy terror]
4. the use of extreme fear in order to coerce people (especially for political reasons);
- Example: "he used terror to make them confess"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Terror \Ter"ror\, n. [L. terror, akin to terrere to frighten,
for tersere; akin to Gr. ? to flee away, dread, Skr. tras to
tremble, to be afraid, Russ. triasti to shake: cf. F.
terreur. Cf. Deter.]
1. Extreme fear; fear that agitates body and mind; violent
dread; fright.
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Terror seized the rebel host. --Milton.
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2. That which excites dread; a cause of extreme fear.
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Those enormous terrors of the Nile. --Prior.
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Rulers are not a terror to good works. --Rom. xiii.
3.
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There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats.
--Shak.
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Note: Terror is used in the formation of compounds which are
generally self-explaining: as, terror-fraught,
terror-giving, terror-smitten, terror-stricken,
terror-struck, and the like.
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King of terrors, death. --Job xviii. 14.
Reign of Terror. (French Hist.) See in Dictionary of Noted
Names in Fiction.
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Syn: Alarm; fright; consternation; dread; dismay. See
Alarm.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
terror
n 1: an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety [syn: panic,
terror, affright]
2: a person who inspires fear or dread; "he was the terror of
the neighborhood" [syn: terror, scourge, threat]
3: a very troublesome child [syn: terror, brat, little
terror, holy terror]
4: the use of extreme fear in order to coerce people (especially
for political reasons); "he used terror to make them confess"