dread

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dread /dr'ed/ (dreads dreading dreaded)
1 [VERB] V n/-ing, V that
If you dread something which may happen, you feel very anxious and unhappy about it because you think it will be unpleasant or upsetting.
I'm dreading Christmas this year...
I'd been dreading that the birth would take a long time.
≠ look forward to
2 [N-UNCOUNT]
Dread is a feeling of great anxiety and fear about something that may happen.
She thought with dread of the cold winters to come.
3 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
Dread means terrible and greatly feared. (LITERARY)
...a more effective national policy to combat this dread disease.
= dreaded
4
see also dreaded
5 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR wh
If you say that you dread to think what might happen, you mean that you are anxious about it because it is likely to be very unpleasant.
I dread to think what will happen in the case of a major emergency...

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