panic

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The Word of the Day for February 23 is: 

panic   \PAN-ik\   noun
    1 *a : a sudden overpowering fright; also : acute extreme anxiety  b : a 
sudden unreasoning terror often accompanied by mass flight  c : a sudden 
widespread fright concerning financial affairs that results in hurried selling 
and a sharp fall in prices
     2 slang : one that is very funny

Example sentence:
     Jennifer experienced a sudden panic at the thought of failing all of her 
classes.

Did you know?
     "Panic" comes to us from French "panique," which in turn derives from 
Greek "panikos," meaning literally "of Pan." Pan is the pipe-playing, 
nymph-chasing Greek god of fertility, pastures, flocks, and shepherds. (His 
name is a Doric contraction of "paon," meaning "pasturer.") He also has a 
rather dark side -- his shout is said to have instilled fear in the giants 
fighting the gods, and the Greeks believed him responsible for causing the 
Persians to flee in terror at the battle of Marathon. "Panic" entered our 
language first as an adjective suggesting the mental or emotional state that 
Pan was said to induce. The adjective first appeared in print at the beginning 
of the 17th century, and the noun followed about a century later.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





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