The DICT Development Group

  Terrorism \Ter"ror*ism\, n. [Cf. F. terrorisme.]
     1. The act of terrorizing, or state of being terrorized; a
        mode of government by terror or intimidation. --Jefferson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The practise of coercing governments to accede to
        political demands by committing violence on civilian
        targets; any similar use of violence to achieve goals.
        [PJC]

  terrorism
      n 1: the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence)
           against civilians in order to attain goals that are
           political or religious or ideological in nature; this is
           done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear
           [syn: terrorism, act of terrorism, terrorist act]

  66 Moby Thesaurus words for "terrorism":
     Bolshevikism, Bolshevism, Carbonarism, Castroism, Jacobinism,
     Maoism, Sinn Feinism, acuteness, anarchism, animality,
     argumentum baculinum, atrocity, barbarity, big stick, bloodlust,
     brutality, despotism, destructiveness, domination, domineering,
     extremity, fascism, ferociousness, fierceness, force, furiousness,
     harshness, heavy hand, high hand, horrification, impetuosity,
     inclemency, inhumanity, intensity, iron boot, iron hand, iron heel,
     malignity, mercilessness, mindlessness, murderousness, oppression,
     pitilessness, reign of terror, revolutionism, rigor, roughness,
     sans-culotterie, sans-culottism, savagery, scaremongering,
     severity, sharpness, syndicalism, terror tactics,
     terroristic tactics, terrorization, thought control, tyranny,
     ungentleness, vandalism, vehemence, venom, viciousness, violence,
     virulence