as in scaring
to strike with fear
for some reason, the herd of feeding animals at the zoo panicked him
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Recent Examples of panicking
Cash on the sidelines can help retirees and those nearing retirement avoid panicking in a stock market meltdown.
—
Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Ring camera footage showed the technician locking his door before noticing a loud cub approach him, panicking, and yelling at the mammal.
—C. A. Bridges, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025
Everyone's either panicking about AI taking their jobs or jumping headfirst into whatever influencer strategy promises instant results.
—Allen Adamson, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Faith’s boyfriend, Mark, is a Prime delivery driver and spends a lot of the movie panicking and driving around in his gray truck.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2025
Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Ring camera footage showed the technician locking his door before noticing a loud cub approach him, panicking, and yelling at the mammal.
—C. A. Bridges, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2025
Everyone's either panicking about AI taking their jobs or jumping headfirst into whatever influencer strategy promises instant results.
—Allen Adamson, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Faith’s boyfriend, Mark, is a Prime delivery driver and spends a lot of the movie panicking and driving around in his gray truck.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for panicking
Verb
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Though Smith was charged with four counts of assault for scaring and endangering the villagers, troopers did not say he was involved in his mother’s death.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
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Unlike other security systems that passively report break-ins to customers or police, Sauron security agents are constantly monitoring to provide real-time incident responses such as watching and scaring away a would-be robber via their speaker system.—
Victoria Feng,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Instances of swatting have been plaguing the nation for years, with fake shooting threats frightening the public and forcing schools, hospitals, grocery stores, office buildings, and airports into temporary lockdowns.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
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On the same day, 100 cyclists, e-bike and dirt bike riders took over a Boston highway, terrifying local drivers.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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The tonal whiplash you experience at that point, the sense that Barbarian can be genuinely terrifying one moment and weirdly funny the next, is what transformed the film into a cult hit.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Panicking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/panicking. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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