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1. An overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
   - 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: panicked, panicking, panics

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

Encyclopedia: Panic, Pennsylvania