Ter"ror (?), n. [L. terror, akin to terrere to frighten, for tersere; akin to Gr. to flee away, dread, Skr. tras to tremble, to be afraid, Russ. triasti to shake: cf. F. terreur. Cf. Deter.] 1. Extreme fear; fear that agitates body and mind; violent dread; fright.
Terror seized the rebel host.
Milton.
2. That which excites dread; a cause of extreme fear.
Those enormous terrors of the Nile.
Prior.
Rulers are not a terror to good works.
Rom. xiii. 3.
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats.
Shak.
⇒ Terror is used in the formation of compounds which are generally self-explaining: as, terror-fraught, terror-giving, terror-smitten, terror-stricken, terror-struck, and the like.
King of terrors, death. Job xviii. 14. -- Reign of Terror. F. Hist. See in Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
Syn. -- Alarm; fright; consternation; dread; dismay. See Alarm.
© Webster 1913. | 
