fear
part of speech
noun (fear, fears); verb (fear, fears, feared, fearing); adjectives fearful, fearless
meaning for a pupil
1) Fear is the feeling you have when you think something bad or dangerous might happen. tree →
2) A fear is a particular thing that frightens you: a fear of spiders. tree →
3) To fear something means to be afraid of it. tree →
4) To fear can mean to worry that something bad is true: I fear we are late. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: It often means awe and reverence toward God, not only being afraid. "Fear not" is a call for courage. Interpretation: "Fear of God" is a basic idea in Judaism: respect for God that leads people to keep the commandments. Tradition also says it means being honest when no one is watching. In the primary lessons: In lessons about feelings, fear is normal and useful: it warns us of danger and makes the heart beat fast and the body ready to run or fight. Being brave means doing the right thing even when you feel fear; talking about fears helps make them smaller. In stories fear builds tension and suspense. Phrases: fear of the dark, in fear, for fear of, face your fears, no fear (informal: no way), shaking with fear.
examples
- Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God. (Torah LEV.25.43, JPS 1917) tree →
- And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously. (Torah DEU.17.13, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Joseph said unto them: 'Fear not; for am I in the place of God? (Torah GEN.50.19, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Samuel feared to tell Eli the vision. (Prophets 1SA.3.15, JPS 1917) tree →
- Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed. (Prophets ISA.54.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- The lion hath roared, who will not fear? (Prophets AMO.3.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- Many children have a fear of the dark. tree →
- She was shaking with fear during the storm. tree →
- Fear makes your heart beat faster. tree →
- Facing your fears can make you stronger. tree →
- The rabbit froze in fear when it saw the fox. tree →
- He didn't climb the tree for fear of falling. tree →
- Tell someone you trust about your fears. tree →
- Firefighters run into burning buildings without fear. tree →
- Every heart was full of fear. tree →
note
Noun forms: fear (uncountable feeling), fears (particular things). Adjectives: fearful (full of fear), fearless (without fear). In everyday speech people more often say «be afraid of» or «be scared of» than «fear». A fear of something does not mean it is truly dangerous, and something dangerous can feel safe.
In the corpora
- And Joseph said unto them the third day. 'This do, and live; for I fear God:
- And Joseph said unto them: 'Fear not; for am I in the place of God?
- But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive.
- And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses.
- He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses;
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «fear» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.