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nightmare
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As a noun, nightmare means a demon or monster, thought to plague people while they slept and cause a feeling of suffocation and terror during sleep. As a verb, it means have a nightmare.
Meanings of nightmare
6 meaningsnoun
now rareA demon or monster, thought to plague people while they slept and cause a feeling of suffocation and terror during sleep.
now chiefly historicalA feeling of extreme anxiety or suffocation experienced during sleep; Sleep paralysis.
A very bad or frightening dream.
“I had a nightmare that I tried to run but could neither move nor breathe.”
figurativelyAny bad, miserable, difficult or terrifying situation or experience that arouses anxiety, terror, agony or great displeasure.
“Cleaning up after identity theft can be a nightmare of phone calls and letters.”
A terrifying or deeply upsetting dream
verb
To have a nightmare.
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).