English Explanatory Dictionary

panic

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Alternative letter-case form of Panic (“pertaining to the Greek god Pan”).
  2. Of fear, fright, etc: overwhelming or sudden.
  3. Pertaining to or resulting from overwhelming fear or fright.
noun
  1. Overwhelming fear or fright, often affecting groups of people or animals; (countable) an instance of this; a fright, a scare.
  2. 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.
  3. A rapid reduction in asset prices due to broad efforts to raise cash in anticipation of such prices continuing to decline.
  4. A highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show; a riot, a scream.
verb
  1. To cause (someone) to feel panic (“overwhelming fear or fright”); also, to frighten (someone) into acting hastily.
  2. To cause (a computer system) to crash.
  3. To highly amuse, entertain, or impress (an audience watching a performance or show).
  4. To feel panic, or overwhelming fear or fright; to freak out, to lose one's head.
  5. Of a computer system: to crash.
noun
  1. Foxtail millet or Italian millet (Setaria italica), the second-most widely grown species of millet.
  2. 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.
  3. The edible grain obtained from one of the above plants.
adj
  1. Synonym of Pandean (“pertaining to the Greek god Pan”).

Pronunciation

/ˈpænɪk/ [ˈpʰænɪk] En-us-panic.ogg /ˈpeə̯nɪk/ [ˈpʰeə̯nɪk] ~ /ˈpɛə̯nɪk/ [ˈpʰɛə̯nɪk] /ˈpɛːnɪk/ [ˈpʰɛːnɪk]

Word forms

panic more panic most panic panick panics panicking panicked

Etymology

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”).

Synonyms

Pandean panical

Related words

panicum

Derived words

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 panic-buyer panic buying panicked panicker panicking panickingly panic-sell panic selling hairy panic panicgrass panic grass

Translations

Armenian: խուճապի մատնվել Belarusian: панікава́ць Bulgarian: паникьосвам се Catalan: entrar en pànic Catalan: espantar Chinese Mandarin: 恐慌 Czech: panikařit Dutch: in paniek raken Esperanto: panikiĝi Finnish: panikoida French: paniquer French: s'affoler German: in Panik geraten German: in Panik verfallen Greek: πανικοβάλλομαι Hungarian: pánikba esik Hungarian: pánikol Ingrian: hätähyä Ingrian: hätästyä Irish: scanraigh Italian: gettarsi nel panico Italian: spaventarsi Japanese: パニックになる Khmer: ភ័យក្ដុក Khmer: ស្លន់ Latin: patiō pavōrem Latin: patior pavōrem Māori: maurirere Norwegian: få panikk Polish: panikować Portuguese: apavorar Portuguese: deixar em pânico Romanian: panica Russian: паникова́ть Spanish: aterrarse Spanish: espantarse Spanish: entrar en pánico Spanish: alarmarse Spanish: paniquearse Spanish: empanicarse Spanish: paniquiar Spanish: apanicarse Swedish: få panik Turkish: paniğe kapılmak Turkish: paniklemek Turkish: panik olmak Turkish: panik yapmak Ukrainian: панікува́ти Welsh: cynhyrfu Welsh: dychryn Welsh: rhusio
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