/ dred; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
to be very afraid of sth; to fear that sth bad is going to happen :
[ vn ]
This was the moment he had been dreading.
[ v -ing ]
I dread being sick.
[ vn -ing ]
She dreads her husband finding out.
[ v to inf ]
I dread to think what would happen if there really was a fire here.
[also v that ]
■ noun
[ U , C , usually sing. ] a feeling of great fear about sth that might or will happen in the future; a thing that causes this feeling :
The prospect of growing old fills me with dread .
She has an irrational dread of hospitals.
The committee members live in dread of (= are always worried about) anything that may cause a scandal.
My greatest dread is that my parents will find out.
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English ādrǣdan , ondrǣdan , of West Germanic origin; related to Old High German intrātan .