dread

 
Pronunciation: /drɛd/

verb

[with object]
  • 1anticipate with great apprehension or fear: Jane was dreading the party [with infinitive]: I dread to think what Russell will say
  • 2 archaic regard with great awe or reverence: the man whom Henry dreaded as the future champion of English freedom

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] great fear or apprehension: the thought of returning to London filled her with dread [in singular]: I used to have a dread of Friday afternoons
  • 2a sudden take-off and flight of a flock of gulls or other birds: flocks of wood sandpiper, often excitable, noisy, and given to dreads
  • 3 informal a person with dreadlocks: the band appeals to dreads and baldheads alike
  • (dreads) dreadlocks: Lyon combed his fingers through Curtis' dreads

adjective

[attributive]
  • 1greatly feared; dreadful: he was stricken with the dread disease and died
  • 2 archaic regarded with awe; greatly revered: that dread being we dare oppose

Origin:

Old English ādrǣdan, ondrǣdan, of West Germanic origin; related to Old High German intrātan