terrorize

• terrorise (non-Oxford British English)

From terror + -ize.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛɹəɹaɪz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

terrorize (third-person singular simple present terrorizes, present participle terrorizing, simple past and past participle terrorized) (transitive, American spelling, Oxford British English)

1. To fill (someone) with terror; to terrify.

   terrorize the population

   terrorize civilians

   The gang continued to terrorize the neighborhood.

   She felt terrorized by the constant threats.

   • 2019, “Brimstone”, performed by Whitechapel:

     Sleep with one eye open
     You have no idea what I'm capable of
     Keep claiming holier than thou
     My knife can stab more holes than you can count
     How dare you sleep where a king once slept
     And dry the tears of where his queen has wept
     Kill, torture, terrorize
     Welcome to my mind

2. To coerce (someone) by using threats or violence.

• (fill with terror): petrify, terrify
• (coerce by threats or violence): bully, hector

• terrorism
• terrorist

• “terrorize”, in Oxford Learner's Dictionaries