for fear of

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, for fear that . In order to avoid or prevent, in case of. For example, They closed all the windows for fear of rain . The variant is always used before a clause, as in She wouldn't let her children climb trees for fear that they would fall . The first term dates from the late 1400s, the second from about 1600.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Following the crackdown, some traders have resorted to selling their goods in secret, afraid to display them openly for fear of arrest.

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At school, I was reluctant to tell people about my identity for fear of being called a derogatory name and when I applied for university, my parents told me not to tick the GRT ethnicity box on the entrance form in case it hurt my chances of getting in.

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“The fear that they could grab you is always there,” said Celeste, who asked that The Times not use her full name for fear of making her a target for immigration authorities.

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“There is nothing left,” said the owner, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of his safety.

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All of this was unthinkable under Assad, as Syrians could never protest freely for fear of reprisals.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Forfar forfeit

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