fear

Definition fear

fear: fear n. an emotional state evoked by threat of danger and usually characterized by unpleasant subjective experiences and physiological and behavioural changes. fear is often distinguished from *anxiety in having a special object. Physiological changes can include increases in heart rate, blood presure, sweating, etc. Behaioural changes can include an avoidance of fear-producing objects or situation and may be extremely disabling, for example, fear of open spaces. These specific disabling fear are known as *phobias. Treatment of short-term fears, such as the fear hearing the results of an examination, can be relieved by tranquillizers, such as diazepam.