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nightmare

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The definition of a nightmare is a bad dream, or an experience that is like a bad dream.

(noun)

An example of a nightmare is a dream of a monster that wakes a child.
An example of a nightmare is a family having a flat tire on a busy freeway.

See nightmare in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

Folklore, Historical an evil spirit believed to haunt and suffocate sleeping people
a frightening dream, often accompanied by a sensation of oppression and helplessness
any experience like a nightmare in its frightening or oppressing aspects

Origin: ME nihtmare: see night & mare

Related Forms:

nightmarish adjective

See nightmare in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A dream arousing feelings of intense fear, horror, and distress.
An event or experience that is intensely distressing.
A demon or spirit once thought to plague sleeping people.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English, a female demon that afflicts sleeping people

Origin: : night, night; see night

Origin: + mare, goblin (from Old English; see mer- in Indo-European roots)

Related Forms:

nightˈmarˌish adjective

nightˈmarˌish·ly adverb

nightˈmarˌish·ness noun

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