1. An overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
   "The sudden noise filled them with panic";
   - terror, affright
    
2. Sudden mass fear and anxiety over anticipated events
   "panic in the stock market";
   - scare

1. Be overcome by a sudden fear
   "The students panicked when told that final exams were less than a week away"
    
2. Cause sudden fear in or fill with sudden panic
   "The mere thought of an isolation cell panicked the prisoners"

Derived forms: panics, panicking, panicked

Type of: anxiety, anxiousness, dread, fear, fearfulness, fright, terrify, terrorise [Brit], terrorize

Encyclopedia: Panic, Pennsylvania