feeling so terrified that every shadow became a specter
Recent Examples on the WebState power officials also urged people to conserve electricity and raised the specter of rolling power outages. Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle, 31 Aug. 2022 There is also the specter of Biden issuing an executive order to cancel student loans en masse, at tremendous cost to taxpayers. Preston Cooper, Forbes, 17 Aug. 2022 Hanging over his seven-minute session Wednesday with reporters, however, was the specter of two uncomfortable absences. Jonas Shaffer, Baltimore Sun, 1 June 2022 Another source of irritation for delegates was the specter of Democrats changing their party registration to impact the Republican vote. Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 9 Apr. 2022 So there there is a specter of nuclear war, the prospect for at least a third nuclear war that hangs over the current crisis and is clearly influencing decision making, at least on on the part of NATO.CBS News, 23 Mar. 2022 What's certain to return is the specter now following a club that's squandered a No. 1 seed, which should be a massive advantage, in both years since the NFL expanded to a 14-team playoff field. Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 16 Feb. 2022 Deadly tenement conflagrations are largely a thing of the past in Los Angeles, but the encampment is a specter haunting homeowners across the county. Piper French, The New Republic, 22 Sep. 2021 Lurking in the background of every discussion on embryo selection and ethics is the specter of eugenics. Laura Hercher, Scientific American, 12 July 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
French spectre, from Latin spectrum appearance, specter, from specere to look, look at — more at spy