# panic

Pronunciation: say "PAN-ik" /ˈpænɪk/

## Noun

1. Overwhelming fear or fright, especially when it spreads through a group of people or animals.
   - Simple: A sudden strong feeling of fear that makes it hard to think clearly.
   - _A single gunshot sent the herd into blind panic._
   - _Rumors of a shortage caused widespread panic among shoppers._
6. A rapid fall in asset prices driven by widespread selling to raise cash, as investors expect prices to keep dropping.
   - Simple: A time when many people quickly sell investments, so prices fall fast.
   - _The 1873 panic triggered a long depression across Europe and America._
   - _Fear of insolvency spread until a full banking panic took hold._
7. Ellipsis of kernel panic. — Ellipsis of kernel panic (“on Unix-derived operating systems: an action taken by the operating system when it cannot recover from a fatal error”); (by extension) any computer system crash.
   - Simple: Short for kernel panic. It means a serious crash that stops the whole computer.
   - _The technician traced the panic to a faulty device driver._
   - _Each panic dumped a stack trace to the console before halting._
10. An entertainer, act, or show that people find hilariously funny or hugely entertaining. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: A person, show, or performance that is very funny and entertaining.
   - _That sketch was such a panic the whole theater was in tears._
   - _Their drummer is a panic. He keeps the whole crew laughing._
12. Any of various grasses of the genus Panicum, or similar grasses once classified within it, known as panicgrass.
   - Simple: A kind of grass grown for its grain or as animal feed.
   - _Several species of panic thrive in poor, sandy soils._
   - _The meadow was thick with panic and other wild grasses._
13. The edible grain harvested from panicgrass or related Panicum species.
   - Simple: The small edible grain harvested from panic grass.
   - _In lean years, villagers survived on bread made from panic._
   - _The recipe called for a cup of panic boiled in milk._
14. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), the second-most widely grown species of millet.
   - Simple: A kind of millet grown widely for its small edible grain.
   - _Across much of Asia, panic remains an important food and fodder crop._
   - _They sowed panic in spring and harvested it before the fall rains._

## Verb

2. To suddenly feel overwhelming fear or fright, losing the ability to think or act calmly.
   - Simple: To suddenly feel so afraid that you cannot think or act calmly.
   - _Investors began to panic as the markets tumbled._
   - _She panicked and slammed on the brakes._
3. To cause someone to feel sudden overwhelming fear, or to frighten them into acting hastily.
   - Simple: To make someone feel sudden fear, often so they act too quickly.
   - _Don't let one bad headline panic you into selling your shares._
   - _The sudden noise panicked the horses._
8. Of a computer system, to suffer a crash and stop running abruptly.
   - Simple: To crash and stop working completely, used about a computer.
   - _Older kernels would panic the moment they lost the root filesystem._
   - _The machine panicked during the firmware update._
9. In computing, to bring a computer system to an abrupt halt by making it crash.
   - Simple: To make a computer crash and stop working.
   - _A single corrupted module can panic the kernel instantly._
   - _The test deliberately panicked the server to check recovery._
11. To delight an audience with a performance or make a strong impression on it. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: To make an audience laugh a lot.
   - _The veteran comic could panic a roomful of strangers within minutes._
   - _His closing bit panicked the audience and brought down the house._

## Adjective

4. Brought on by overwhelming fear or alarm, or connected with a state of such fear.
   - Simple: Caused by or having to do with sudden strong fear.
   - _His panic response to criticism often alienated his colleagues._
   - _The government's panic measures only deepened public anxiety._
5. Of fear, fright, or a similar feeling: overwhelming or coming on suddenly.
   - Simple: Describing fear that is very strong or comes all at once.
   - _A panic dread seized the soldiers as the line broke._
   - _A panic fear of being trapped kept him out of elevators for years._

## Adjective

15. Alternative letter-case form of Panic (pertaining to the Greek god Pan). *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Lower-case form of Panic, meaning connected with the Greek god Pan. Now rarely used.
   - _The travelers spoke of the panic terror that seized them in the lonely grove._
   - _Wild pipe music was thought to honor the panic spirit of the wilderness._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–11, 15** — The adjective was borrowed from Middle French panique, itself from Ancient Greek panikós ('pertaining to Pan'). Pan, the Greek god of fields and woods, was believed to be the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds. The noun derives from the adjective, and the verb in turn from the noun.
**Meanings 12–14** — From Late Middle English panik or panyk (a plant of the genus Panicum), borrowed from Latin panicum ('foxtail or Italian millet'). Its further etymology is uncertain, probably either from panis ('bread'; perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-, 'to graze, protect, shepherd') or panus ('ear of millet') plus the suffix -cum. It is a doublet of bannock and bonnag.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/panic (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).