terrorise

«terrorise» in Mova's school dictionary: to frighten them very badly, again and again, often by… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (terrorise, terrorises, terrorised, terrorising; US terrorize)

meaning for a pupil

1) To terrorise people is to frighten them very badly, again and again, often by threats or violence. tree →

2) (humour) To terrorise can mean to playfully bother or chase, like a puppy terrorising the cat. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history and news, gangs, pirates or armies terrorised towns. In anti-bullying lessons, terrorising another child is bullying and must be reported. In stories, a monster or a dragon terrorises a village. Phrases: «terrorise a town», «terrorised by».

examples

• A dragon terrorised the village in the old tale. tree →
• Pirates terrorised ships along the coast. tree →
• Bullying means terrorising someone again and again — tell a teacher. tree →
• Our new kitten terrorises the dog. tree →
• The wolf terrorised the farm animals. tree →
• The gang terrorised the neighbourhood until the police came. tree →

note

UK spelling «terrorise», US «terrorize». Related: «terror», «terrorist» (someone who uses violence to frighten people for political aims). The playful sense is only for light jokes.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «terrorise» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.