Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - fear

~1 n 1 an unpleasant feeling of being frightened or worried that something bad is going to happen  (The boy's eyes were full of fear. | McCarthy exploited deep-seated fears about communism among the American people.) + of  (fear of flying | My fear of dentists dates back to when I was a child.) + for  (fears for the future) fear that  (fears that his wife might leave him | in fear (=feeling afraid))  (He thought he heard something and glanced round in fear. | live in fear of (=always be afraid of))  (Ordinary people live in fear of being arrested by the secret police. | in fear of your life (=feeling afraid that you may be killed) | sb's fears are unfounded (=there is no reason for someone to feel afraid or worried))  (My fears for their safety proved unfounded.) 2 for fear of/for fear that because you are worried that you will make something happen  (Helen didn't want to get out of bed, for fear of waking her husband.) 3 no fear! BrE informal often humorous used to say that you are definitely not going to do something  ("Are you going to Bill's party tonight?" "No fear!") 4 put the fear of God into sb informal to make someone feel that they must do something by telling them what will happen if they do not do it  (The Italian manager must have put the fear of God into his team.) 5 there's no fear of used to say that something will definitely not happen  (There's no fear of him changing his mind.) 6 without fear or favour formal in a fair way  (to enforce the law without fear or favour) ~2 v 1 a word meaning to feel frightened or worried that something bad may happen  (Fearing another earthquake, local officials ordered an evacuation. | fear that)  (Einstein feared that other German scientists would build a nuclear bomb first. | fear to do sth formal (=be afraid to do something))  (Women feared to go out at night.) 2 fear the worst to think that the worst possible thing has happened or might happen  (When Tom heard about the accident he immediately feared the worst.) 3 to be afraid of someone and what they might do because they are very powerful  (The general manager was greatly feared by all his subordinates.) 4 fear for to feel worried about someone because you think they might be in danger  (fear for sb's safety/life)  (Mary feared for her son's safety. | fear for sb)  (He feared for his children.) 5 I fear formal used when telling someone that you think that something bad has happened or is true  (I fear (that))  (I fear that we may be too late, Holmes. | I fear so/I fear not)  ("Is she very ill?" "I fear so.") 6 fear not/never fear formal used to tell someone not to worry  (Never fear, he'll be with us soon.)  (- see also god­fearing)