(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
Fear is the unpleasant feeling you have when you think that you are in danger.
I was sitting on the floor shivering with ~.
...boyhood memories of sickness and ~ of the dark...
N-VAR: oft N of n/-ing
2.
If you ~ someone or something, you are frightened because you think that they will harm you.
Many people ~ change because they do not like the old ways to be disrupted.
VERB: V n
3.
A ~ is a thought that something unpleasant might happen or might have happened.
These youngsters are motivated not by a desire to achieve, but by ~ of failure...
Then one day his worst ~s were confirmed...
N-VAR: with supp, oft N of n/-ing, N that
4.
If you ~ something unpleasant or undesirable, you are worried that it might happen or might have happened.
She had ~ed she was going down with pneumonia or bronchitis...
More than two million refugees have fled the area, ~ing attack by loyalist forces.
VERB: V that, V n
5.
If you say that there is a ~ that something unpleasant or undesirable will happen, you mean that you think it is possible or likely.
There is a ~ that the freeze on bank accounts could prove a lasting deterrent to investors.
N-VAR: oft N that, N of n/-ing
6.
If you ~ for someone or something, you are very worried because you think that they might be in danger.
Carla ~s for her son...
He fled on Friday, saying he ~ed for his life.
VERB: V for n, V for n
7.
If you have ~s for someone or something, you are very worried because you think that they might be in danger.
He also spoke of his ~s for the future of his country’s culture.
N-VAR: N for n
8.
You say that you ~ that a situation is the case when the situation is unpleasant or undesirable, and when you want to express sympathy, sorrow, or regret about it. (FORMAL)
I ~ that a land war now looks very probable...
‘Is anything left at all?’—‘I ~ not.’
= regret
VERB: V that, V so/not
9.
If you are in ~ of doing or experiencing something unpleasant or undesirable, you are very worried that you might have to do it or experience it.
The elderly live in ~ of assault and murder.
PHRASE: PHR n/-ing, usu v-link PHR, PHR after v
10.
If you take a particular course of action for ~ of something, you take the action in order to prevent that thing happening.
She was afraid to say anything to them for ~ of hurting their feelings...
PHRASE: PHR n/-ing, PHR with cl
11.
You use ‘no ~’ to emphasize that you do not want to do something. (BRIT INFORMAL)
When I asked him if he wanted to change his mind, William said ‘No ~.’
CONVENTION emphasis