Webster's English Dictionary

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fear

1. fear \'fi(*)r\ n [ME fer, fr. OE f-r sudden danger; akin to L 
   pericul]um attempt, peril, Gk peiran to attempt, OE faran to go - more at 
   FARE 1a: an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or 
   awareness  of danger 1b: an instance of this emotion; specif : a state 
   marked by this em otion 2: anxious concern : SOLICITUDE  3: profound 
   reverence and awe esp. toward God  4: reason for alarm : DANGER TERROR, 
   TREPIDATION mean painful agitation in the presence or anticipation of 
   danger. FEAR is the most general term and implies anxiety and usu. loss of 
   courage; DREAD usu. adds the idea of intense reluctance to face or meet a 
   person or situation and suggests aversion as well as anxiety; FRIGHT 
   implies the shock of sudden, startling fear; ALARM suggests sudden and 
   intense apprehension; PANIC implies unreasoning and overmastering fear 
   causing hysterical activity; TERROR implies the most extreme degree of 
   fear; TREPIDATION adds to DREAD the implications of timidity, trembling, 
   and hesitation SYN syn FEAR, DREAD, FRIGHT, ALARM, PANIC,  
2. fear vt archaic  1: FRIGHTEN  archaic  2: to feel fear in (oneself)  3: 
   to have a reverential awe of {~ God}  4: to be afraid of  : to be afraid or 
   apprehensive  - fear.er n