nightmare

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night·mare

(nīt′mâr′)

1. A dream arousing feelings of intense fear, horror, and distress.

2. An event or experience that is intensely distressing.

3. A demon or spirit once thought to plague sleeping people.

[Middle English, a female demon that afflicts sleeping people : night, night; see night + mare, goblin (from Old English; see mer- in Indo-European roots).]

night′mar′ish adj.

night′mar′ish·ly adv.

night′mar′ish·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

nightmare

(ˈnaɪtˌmɛə)

1. a terrifying or deeply distressing dream

a. an event or condition resembling a terrifying dream: the nightmare of shipwreck.

b. (as modifier): a nightmare drive.

3. a thing that is feared

4. (European Myth & Legend) (formerly) an evil spirit supposed to harass or suffocate sleeping people

[C13 (meaning: incubus; C16: bad dream): from night + Old English mare, mære evil spirit, from Germanic; compare Old Norse mara incubus, Polish zmora, French cauchemar nightmare]

ˈnightˌmarish adj

ˈnightˌmarishly adv

ˈnightˌmarishness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

night•mare

(ˈnaɪtˌmɛər)

n.

1. a terrifying dream producing feelings of extreme fear and anxiety.

2. a condition, thought, or experience suggestive of a nightmare.

3. (formerly) a monster or evil spirit believed to oppress persons during sleep.

[1250–1300; Middle English; see night, mare²]

night′mar`ish,

adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	nightmare - a situation resembling a terrifying dream incubus situation - a complex or critical or unusual difficulty; "the dangerous situation developed suddenly"; "that's quite a situation"; "no human situation is simple"
	2.	nightmare - a terrifying or deeply upsetting dream dream, dreaming - a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep; "I had a dream about you last night"

nightmare

noun

1. bad dream, hallucination, night terror Jane did not eat cheese because it gave her nightmares.

2. ordeal, trial, hell, horror, torture, torment, tribulation, purgatory, hell on earth My years in prison were a nightmare.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

كابوسكَابُوسٌ

noční můra

mareridt

Albtraum AlptraumNachtmahr

εφιάλτης

sonĝaĉo

pesadilla

painajainen

cauchemar

noćna mora

lidércnyomás

mimpi buruk

martröðmartröî

incubo esperienza da incubo

悪夢

악몽

incubus

murgi

coşmar

nočná mora

mora

mardröm

ฝันร้าย

karabasan kabus kâbus

cơn ác mộng

噩梦恶梦

nightmare

[ˈnaɪtmɛəʳ]

A. N (also fig) → pesadilla f
to be sb's worst nightmare → ser la peor pesadilla de algn

B. CPD nightmare scenario N a hung parliament would be the nightmare scenario for the market → el peor panorama para el mercado sería un parlamento en el cual ningún partido tiene la mayoría absoluta

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

nightmare

[ˈnaɪtmɛə^r]

(= bad dream) → cauchemar m
to have a nightmare → faire un cauchemar
I still have nightmares about the attack
BUT Cette agression me donne encore des cauchemars.

(= unpleasant or annoying situation) → cauchemar m
It was a real nightmare! → Ça a été un vrai cauchemar!
The bus journey was a nightmare → Le trajet en bus a été un vrai cauchemar.

modif [journey] → cauchemardesque; [vision] → de cauchemar, cauchemardesquenightmare scenario n → scénario m catastrophenight-night [ˌnaɪtˈnaɪt] excl → bonne nuitnight out n
girls' night out → soirée f entre filles
boys' night out → soirée f entre garçonsnight owl n → couche-tard mf invnight porter n → gardien m de nuitnight safe n → coffre m de nuitnight school n → cours mpl du soir
to go to night school → prendre des cours du soir

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

nightmare

n (lit, fig) → Albtraum m, → Alptraum m; to suffer from nightmares → Albträume haben (over, about wegen); that was a nightmare of a journey → die Reise war ein Albtraum; nightmare scenario → eine Albtraum- or Schreckensvision

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

nightmare

[ˈnaɪtˌmɛəʳ] n → incubo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

night

(nait) noun

1. the period from sunset to sunrise. We sleep at night; They talked all night (long); He travelled by night and rested during the day; The days were warm and the nights were cool; (also adjective) He is doing night work.

2. the time of darkness. In the Arctic in winter, night lasts for twenty-four hours out of twenty-four.

ˈnightly adjective, adverb

every night. a nightly news programme; He goes there nightly.

ˈnight-club noun

a club open at night for drinking, dancing, entertainment etc.

ˈnightdress, ˈnightgown noun

a garment for wearing in bed.

ˈnightfall noun

the beginning of night; dusk.

ˈnightmare noun

a frightening dream. I had a nightmare about being strangled.

ˈnightmarish adjective

ˈnight-school noun

(a place providing) educational classes held in the evenings for people who are at work during the day.

ˈnight shift

1. (a period of) work during the night. He's on (the) night shift this week.

2. the people who work during this period. We met the night shift leaving the factory.

ˈnight-time noun

the time when it is night. Owls are usually seen at night-time.

ˌnight-ˈwatchman noun

a person who looks after a building etc during the night.

nightmare

→ كَابُوسٌ noční můra mareridt Alptraum εφιάλτης pesadilla painajainen cauchemar noćna mora incubo 悪夢 악몽 nachtmerrie mareritt koszmar pesadelo кошмарный сон mardröm ฝันร้าย karabasan cơn ác mộng 噩梦

night·mare

n. pesadilla.

nightmare

n pesadilla

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References in classic literature ?

As to the cries, I was in no difficulty; since she was alone in her room these could result from nightmare only.

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And thereafter I lived nightmare. My memory of what happened in the succeeding hours is the memory one would have of nightmare.

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Half the night he paced the floor, wrestling with this nightmare; and when he was exhausted he lay down, trying to sleep, but finding instead, for the first time in his life, that his brain was too much for him.

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I was troubled with dreadful nightmare. The horrible scene of destruction was continually before my eyes.

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He decided then that this was some sort of gruesome nightmare with which he was afflicted.

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The result was confusion and nightmare. I could comprehend nothing of it.

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But White Fang was to have no more than a nightmare vision of the city--an experience that was like a bad dream, unreal and terrible, that haunted him for long after in his dreams.

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I also had a disconnected impression of a dark face, with extraordinary eyes, close to mine; but that I thought was a nightmare, until I met it again.

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It was not Napoleon alone who had experienced that nightmare feeling of the mighty arm being stricken powerless, but all the generals and soldiers of his army whether they had taken part in the battle or not, after all their experience of previous battles- when after one tenth of such efforts the enemy had fled- experienced a similar feeling of terror before an enemy who, after losing HALF his men, stood as threateningly at the end as at the beginning of the battle.

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"I thought this a bad dream and tried to cry out, as one does in a nightmare, but could make no sound.

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But this dream weighed on her like a nightmare, and she awoke from it in terror.

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The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, 'Let me in - let me in!' 'Who are you?' I asked, struggling, meanwhile, to disengage myself.