Panic

1. (n.) A plant of the genus Panicum; panic grass; also, the edible grain of some species of panic grass.

2. (a.) Extreme or sudden and causeless; unreasonable; -- said of fear or fright; as, panic fear, terror, alarm.

3. (n.) A sudden, overpowering fright; esp., a sudden and groundless fright; terror inspired by a trifling cause or a misapprehension of danger; as, the troops were seized with a panic; they fled in a panic.

4. (a.) By extension: A sudden widespread fright or apprehension concerning financial affairs.

Thesaurus Entries

abject fear, affright, agitation, alarm, anxiety, apprehension, apprehensiveness, attack of nerves, awe, bear panic, belly laugh, blue funk, blue story, boggle, buck fever, case of nerves, cold feet, confound, consternation, cowardice, dirty joke, dirty story, discomfit, dismay, double entendre, dread, ethnic joke, excessive irritability, fear, fidgetiness, fidgets, fight shy, frenzy, fright, frighten, fun, funk, funny story, gag, go to pieces, good one, good story, horrification, horror, howl, howler, hysteria, jape, jest, jestbook, jib, joke, jump, jump a mile, laugh, morbid excitability, nerves, nervosity, nervous stomach, nervousness, panic fear, panickiness, phobia, play, point, put in fear, put to flight, put to rout, rib tickler, riot, rout, scare, scatter, scream, send scuttling, shy, sick joke, sidesplitter, sight gag, skedaddle, spell of nerves, sport, stage fright, stampede, start, start aside, startle, state of nerves, story, terrify, terror, tic, trepidation, twitching, uneasiness, unholy dread, unnerve, vellication, visual joke, wheeze, wow, yarn