(fir) noun
1. An emotion excited by threatening evil or impending pain, accompanied by a desire to avoid or escape it; apprehension; dread.
2. Uneasiness about a thing; solicitude accompanied with dread.
3. That which causes fear.
4. Alarming character; formidableness.
5. Reverence for constituted authority, especially when accompanied by obedience thereto: the fear of God.
—v.t.
1. To be afraid of; be fearful of.
2. To look upon with awe or reverence; venerate: to fear God.
3. To be anxious about; be apprehensive about.
—v.i.
4. To be afraid; feel fear.
5. To be anxious or doubtful. [OE fǣr peril, sudden attack]
—fear′er noun Synonyms (noun): affright, apprehension, awe, consternation, dismay, disquiet, dread, fright, horror, misgiving, panic, terror, timidity, trembling, tremor, trepidation. Fear is the generic term denoting an emotion excited by threatening evil with a desire to avoid or escape it; fear may be sudden or lingering, in view of present, of imminent, or of distant and only possible danger; in the latter sense dread is oftener used. Horror (etymologically a shivering or shuddering) denotes a shuddering fear accompanied by abhorrence, or such a shock to the feelings and sensibilities as may exist without fear, as when one suddenly encounters some ghastly spectacle; we say of a desperate but fettered criminal, “I looked upon him with horror.” Where horror includes fear, it is fear mingled with abhorrence. (See ABHOR.) Timidity is a quality, habit, or condition, a readiness to be affected with fear. A person of great timidity is constantly liable to needless alarm and even terror. Dread is terrifying anticipation of evil, and is lingering and oppressive. Dismay is a helpless sinking of heart in view of some overwhelming peril or sorrow, actual or prospective. Dismay is more reflective, enduring, and despairing than fright; a horse is subject to fright or terror, but not to dismay. Awe is a reverential fear. Compare ALARM, ANXIETY, FRIGHT. Antonyms: see synonyms for FORTITUDE Compare BRAVE.

(fir), Cape
A promontory in North Carolina near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, flowing 200 miles south to the Atlantic Ocean.