panic

Universal Words noun, verb noun [U,C,usually sing.] 1 a sudden feeling of great fear that cannot be controlled and prevents you from thinking clearly: a moment of panic * They were in a state of panic. * Office workers fled in panic as the fire took hold. * There's no point getting into a panic about the exams. * a panic attack (= a condition in which you suddenly feel very anxious, causing your heart to beat faster, etc.) * a panic decision (= one that is made when you are in a state of panic) * A look of panic crossed his face. * The mere thought of flying fills me with panic. 2 a situation in which people are made to feel very anxious, causing them to act quickly and without thinking carefully: News of the losses caused (a) panic among investors. * Careful planning at this stage will help to avoid a last-minute panic. * There's no panic (= we do not need to rush), we've got plenty of time. * panic buying / selling (= the act of buying / selling things quickly and without thinking carefully because you are afraid that a particular situation will become worse and cause you to lose money) IDIOMS panic stations (BrE, informal) a situation in which people feel anxious and there is a lot of confused activity, especially because there is a lot to do in a short period of time: It was panic stations when the deadline was brought forward by a week. verb (-ck-) to suddenly feel frightened so that you cannot think clearly and you say or do sth stupid, dangerous, etc.; to make sb do this: [V] I panicked when I saw smoke coming out of the engine. * [VN] The gunfire panicked the horses. PHRASALVERBS panic sb into doing sth [usuallypassive] to make sb act too quickly because they are afraid of sth: We will not be panicked into making a decision before we have considered all the evidence.