panicking

Pluralpanickings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of panic.

   The passengers were panicking as the boat began to rock.

   He spent the whole night panicking over the exam results.

   Note

   The spelling adds a k before -ing so the c keeps its hard sound, the same pattern as picnicking and mimicking. The form works in both directions of the verb: passengers panicking feel the fear, while a rumor panicking the passengers causes it. It also carries a technical meaning, in which a computer system panicking is one that crashes.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A state of sudden, overpowering fear that disrupts clear thinking and normal action.

   The sudden blackout led to widespread panicking among the crowd.

   Her panicking subsided once she realized everyone was safe.

   Similaralarm, hysteria, terror, fear, fright

   Oppositecalm, composure

   Note

   Usually a mass noun, as in widespread panicking, but it can also be counted when each episode is treated as a separate event. Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum's Causation: A Very Short Introduction (2013) lists panickings alongside cuttings, kickings and smashings as "the things that really go on in the world." In that use, the plural is a way of itemizing events.

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