Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Dread

Dread (drĕd), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dreaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Dreading.] [AS. drǣdan, in comp.; akin to OS. drādan, OHG. trātan, both only in comp.] To fear in a great degree; to regard, or look forward to, with terrific apprehension.

When at length the moment dreaded through so many years came close, the dark cloud passed away from Johnson's mind. Macaulay.

Dread, v. i. To be in dread, or great fear.

Dread not, neither be afraid of them. Deut. i. 29.

Dread, n. 1. Great fear in view of impending evil; fearful apprehension of danger; anticipatory terror.

The secret dread of divine displeasure. Tillotson.

The dread of something after death. Shak.

2. Reverential or respectful fear; awe.

The fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth. Gen. ix. 2.

His scepter shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. Shak.

3. An object of terrified apprehension.

4. A person highly revered. [Obs.] "Una, his dear dread." Spenser.

5. Fury; dreadfulness. [Obs.] Spenser.

6. Doubt; as, out of dread. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Syn. — Awe; fear; affright; terror; horror; dismay; apprehension. See Reverence.

Dread, a. 1. Exciting great fear or apprehension; causing terror; frightful; dreadful.

A dread eternity! how surely mine. Young.

2. Inspiring with reverential fear; awful' venerable; as, dread sovereign; dread majesty; dread tribunal.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.