I. fear 1 S3 W1 /fɪə $ fɪr/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ fear , ↑ fearfulness ≠ ↑ fearlessness ; adjective : ↑ fearful ≠ ↑ fearless , ↑ fearsome ; verb : ↑ fear ; adverb : ↑ fearfully ≠ ↑ fearlessly ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: fær 'sudden danger' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] the feeling you get when you are afraid or worried that something bad is going to happen
fear of
a fear of flying
fear that
There are fears that share prices could decrease still further.
fear for
The girl’s parents expressed fears for her safety.
in fear
The children looked at her in fear.
without fear
People must be able to express their views without fear of criticism.
2 . for fear (that), for fear of something because you are worried that you will make something happen:
She finally ran away for fear that he would kill her.
for fear of doing something
He got to the station early, for fear of missing her.
3 . no fear! British English informal used humorously to say that you are definitely not going to do something:
‘Are you going to Bill’s party tonight?’ ‘No fear!’
4 . [uncountable] the possibility or danger that something bad might happen:
There’s no fear of revolt now.
5 . put the fear of God into somebody informal to make someone feel that they must do something, by making sure they know what will happen if they do not do it:
The Italian manager must have put the fear of God into his team.
6 . without fear or favour British English formal in a fair way:
The law must be enforced without fear or favour.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ sb’s worst/greatest fear
Her worst fear was never seeing her children again.
▪ an irrational fear (=one that is not reasonable)
He grew up with an irrational fear of insects.
▪ a deep-seated fear (=very strong and difficult to change)
He exploited people’s deep-seated fears about strangers.
▪ groundless (=without any reason)
As it turned out, these fears were groundless.
■ verbs
▪ conquer/overcome your fear (=stop being afraid)
She managed to conquer her fear of flying.
▪ shake/tremble with fear
He was shaking with fear after being held at gunpoint.
▪ show fear
She was determined not to show fear.
▪ be gripped by fear (=be very afraid)
We were gripped by fear as the boat was tossed around by the waves.
▪ be paralysed with fear (=be so afraid that you cannot move)
Bruce was paralysed with fear when he saw the snake.
▪ confirm sb’s fears (=show that what you were afraid of has actually happened)
The look on Colin’s face confirmed all my worst fears.
▪ ease/allay/dispel sb’s fears (=help someone stop being afraid)
Frank eased my fears about not being able to speak the local language.
■ phrases
▪ be in fear of/for your life (=be afraid that you may be killed)
Celia was in fear of her life when she saw the truck coming toward her.
▪ be full of fear
The residents are too full of fear to leave their houses.
▪ be/live in fear of something (=be always afraid of something)
They were constantly in fear of an enemy attack.
▪ have no fear of something
He had no fear of death.
▪ sb’s hopes and fears
We each had different hopes and fears about the trip.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say that someone 'has fear' . Say that someone is frightened or is afraid .
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ fear a feeling of being frightened:
He was trembling with fear.
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Fear of failure should not stop you trying.
▪ terror a feeling of great fear, because you think that something terrible is about to happen:
She let out a scream of pure terror.
▪ fright a sudden feeling of fear, or a situation that makes you feel this:
My body was shaking with fright.
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You gave me a fright!
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He’s had a bit of fright, that’s all.
▪ panic a sudden feeling of fear or nervousness that makes you unable to think clearly or behave sensibly:
She was in such a panic that she hardly knew what she was doing!
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There were scenes of sheer panic immediately following the bomb blast.
▪ alarm a feeling of fear or worry which shows in your voice or behaviour, because you think something bad might happen:
When I mentioned her name, he looked up at me in alarm.
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The streets were calm and there was no sign of alarm.
▪ foreboding /fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ $ fɔːrˈboʊ-/ a feeling that something bad or unpleasant might happen although there is no obvious reason why it should:
She felt the same sense of foreboding she had before her father died.
▪ phobia /ˈfəʊbiə $ ˈfoʊ-/ a permanent strong unreasonable fear of something:
I had a phobia about going to the dentist.
II. fear 2 W2 BrE AmE verb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ fear , ↑ fearfulness ≠ ↑ fearlessness ; adjective : ↑ fearful ≠ ↑ fearless , ↑ fearsome ; verb : ↑ fear ; adverb : ↑ fearfully ≠ ↑ fearlessly ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to feel afraid or worried that something bad may happen:
Fearing violence, the group asked for police protection.
fear (that)
Police fear that there may be further terrorist attacks.
fear to do something formal :
Women feared to go out at night.
fear for somebody
His wife seemed depressed, and he feared for his children.
fear for sb’s safety/life
a terrifying ordeal in which she feared for her life
Hundreds of people are feared dead in the ferry disaster.
2 . fear the worst to think that the worst possible thing has happened or might happen:
When Tom heard about the accident he immediately feared the worst.
3 . [transitive] to be afraid of someone and what they might do:
As a leader, he was distrusted and even feared.
4 . I fear formal used when telling someone that you think that something bad has happened or is true
I fear (that)
I fear that there is little more we can do.
I fear so/I fear not
‘Were they satisfied?’ ‘I fear not.’
5 . fear not/never fear formal used to tell someone not to worry:
Never fear, he’ll be with us soon.
⇨ ↑ God-fearing