The DICT Development Group
3 definitions found
for Nightmare
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :
Nightmare \Night"mare`\ (n[imac]t"m[^a]r`), n. [Night + mare
incubus. See Mare incubus.]
1. A fiend or incubus formerly supposed to cause trouble in
sleep. [archaic]
[1913 Webster]
2. A trerrifying or oppressive dream characterized by a sense
of helplessness in the face of danger, extreme uneasiness
or discomfort (as of weight on the chest or stomach,
impossibility of motion or speech, etc.) or extreme
anxiety, from which one wakes in a troubled state of mind.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
3. Hence: Any overwhelming, oppressive, or terrifying
experience resembling a nightmare[2] especially in the
inability to escape from an unpleasant situation.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) :
nightmare
n 1: a situation resembling a terrifying dream [syn:
nightmare, incubus]
2: a terrifying or deeply upsetting dream
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :
51 Moby Thesaurus words for "nightmare":
Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf-man, bad dream, bogey, bogeyman,
brown study, bugaboo, bugbear, clawing, cruciation, crucifixion,
daydream, dream, fantasy, fee-faw-fum, frightener, ghost, ghoul,
hell, hell upon earth, hobgoblin, holocaust, holy terror, horror,
incubus, laceration, lancination, martyrdom, monster, ogre, ogress,
passion, persecution, phantom, pipe dream, purgatory, rack,
revenant, reverie, scarebabe, scarecrow, scarer, specter, succubus,
terror, torment, torture, vampire, vision, werewolf
Contact=webmaster@dict.org Specification=RFC 2229