0 a sudden strong feeling of fear that prevents reasonable thought and action: --
1 to suddenly feel so worried or frightened that you cannot think or behave calmly or reasonably: --
2 a sudden, strong feeling of anxiety or fear that prevents reasonable thought and action and may spread to influence many people: --
3 a sudden strong feeling of fear that prevents reasonable thought and action: --
There is no sense of panic yet or any feeling that this is the start of a long-term decline in the pound.
cause/trigger panic The drop in prices could cause panic among investors.
a state/wave of panic The government was in a state of panic.
panic about/over sth There is no cause for panic about oil prices.
4 to suddenly feel so worried or frightened that you cannot think or behave reasonably, or to cause someone to feel this: --
If they focus on short run macroeconomic stabilization (avoiding a credit crunch) they may increase the probability of bank failures and bank panics.
Historically such panics appear to follow a pattern.
Despite official advice to stay calm and to avoid medical facilities unless ill or injured, the entire city panics.
With bank failures relatively rare and full-blown panics a thing of the past, critics have increasingly focused on the moral hazard that deposit insurance spawns.
As the nineteenth century wore on, banking panics continued to strike on a fairly regular basis.
The power of the media to generate moral panics must not be underestimated.
Cycling was at the centre of a number of social panics.
The existence of a credible state insurance fund, he believed, would eliminate the fear that drove bank runs and contagious panics.
