claustrophobia Med.
(ˌklɔːstrəˈfəʊbɪə)
[mod.L., f. L. claustrum confined space, cloister n. + -phobia.]
A morbid dread of confined places; also transf.
| 1879 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 6 Sept. 371/1 On Claustrophobia. By B. Ball, M.D. (Paris). 1895 [see -phobia]. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 18 Apr. 2/1 Others of us who have felt..an inexplicable horror of remaining within four walls..now know that we are sufferers from Claustrophobia. 1924 Galsworthy White Monkey i. v, Having a sort of mental claustrophobia, a dread of being hemmed-in by people. 1960 [see prec.]. |
Hence ˌclaustroˈphobiac a. and n., (one who is) suffering from or characterized by claustrophobia.
| 1934 R. Campbell Broken Record 21 All my early verse..is a violent claustrophobiac struggle to keep my individual being. 1937 E. St. Vincent Millay Conv. at Midnight 60 Proletarian poetry today..is the love-song of the claustrophobiac who has espoused the crowd. |