panic
adjEtymology
The adjective is borrowed from Middle French panique, a word itself borrowed from Ancient Greek πανικός (panikós, “pertaining to Pan”); Pan, the Greek god of fields and woods, was believed to be the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots. Adjective sense 3 (“pertaining to or resulting from overpowering fear or fright”) is partly an attributive use of the noun. The noun is derived from the adjective, while the verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.3 (“to highly amuse, entertain, or impress (an audience watching a performance or show”) is derived from noun sense 4 (“a highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show”).
Definitions
Alternative letter-case form of Panic (“pertaining to the Greek god Pan”).
Of fear, fright, etc
Of fear, fright, etc: overwhelming or sudden.
- All things were there in a diſordered confuſion, and in a confuſed furie, vntill ſuch time as by prayers and ſacrifices they had appeaſed the wrath of their Gods. They call it to this day, the P[a]nike terror.
- So long as Epaminondas was captaine general of the Thebans, there was never ſeene in his campe any of theſe ſudden fooliſh frights, without any certeine cauſe, which they call Panique Terrores.
- But why dwell I ſo intolerable long about Tolerations, I hope my feares are but panick, againſt which I have a double cordiall.
Pertaining to or resulting from overwhelming fear or fright.
- No Dangers threatned, but they ſmil'd to meet The pannick French-men trembling at their Feet.
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Overwhelming fear or fright, often affecting groups of people or animals
Overwhelming fear or fright, often affecting groups of people or animals; (countable) an instance of this; a fright, a scare.
- There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind, and as we drove away Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic. His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control.
Ellipsis of kernel panic (“on Unix-derived operating systems
Ellipsis of kernel panic (“on Unix-derived operating systems: an action taken by the operating system when it cannot recover from a fatal error”); (by extension) any computer system crash.
A rapid reduction in asset prices due to broad efforts to raise cash in anticipation of…
A rapid reduction in asset prices due to broad efforts to raise cash in anticipation of such prices continuing to decline.
- "I thought you inherited your money." "I did, old sport," he said automatically, "but I lost most of it in the big panic—the panic of the war."
A highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show
A highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show; a riot, a scream.
To cause (someone) to feel panic (“overwhelming fear or fright”)
To cause (someone) to feel panic (“overwhelming fear or fright”); also, to frighten (someone) into acting hastily.
- He told us he'd almost stepped on Ellen's body that night—dead and stiffening. Then I'd come round the corner and hailed him, and that panicked him.
To cause (a computer system) to crash.
To highly amuse, entertain, or impress (an audience watching a performance or show).
To feel panic, or overwhelming fear or fright
To feel panic, or overwhelming fear or fright; to freak out, to lose one's head.
- I don't want you to be hopeful, I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day and then I want you to act.
Of a computer system
Of a computer system: to crash.
Foxtail millet or Italian millet (Setaria italica), the second-most widely grown species…
Foxtail millet or Italian millet (Setaria italica), the second-most widely grown species of millet.
A plant of the genus Panicum, or of similar plants of other genera (especially…
A plant of the genus Panicum, or of similar plants of other genera (especially Echinochloa and Setaria) formerly included within Panicum; panicgrass or panic grass.
- There be ſundrie ſorts of Panick, although of the ancients there hathe beene ſet downe but two, that is to ſay, the wilde or fielde Panick, and the garden or manured Panick: […]
The edible grain obtained from one of the above plants.
Synonym of Pandean (“pertaining to the Greek god Pan”).
The neighborhood
- neighborpanicum
Derived
panical, antipanic, gay panic, gay panic defense, homosexual panic defense, kernel panic, moral panic, panican, panic attack, panic bar, panic-bought, panic button, panic buyer, panic disorder, panic door, panicful, panicky, panicless, paniclike, panicmonger, panicmongering, panicogenesis, panicogenic, panic party, panic rev, panic room, panic sell, panic seller, panic snap, panic stations, panic-stricken, panic-strike, panic-struck, Panicsville, press the panic button, satanic panic, spider-panic, trans panic, trans panic defense, panic-buy · +11 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at panic. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at panic. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
9 hops · closes at panic
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA