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# claustrophobia

noun (claustrophobia, uncountable)

«claustrophobia» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A strong fear of being in small, closed or crowded spaces, such as lifts, tunnels or cupboards. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/#m1)
2. (everyday) A feeling of being trapped or squeezed in, even without real fear. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/#m2)

### In the lessons

In health and wellbeing lessons it is an example of a phobia — a fear stronger than the danger. In stories it builds tension in caves, tunnels and lifts. People with claustrophobia may feel their heart racing and want to get out. Phrases: «suffer from claustrophobia», «a feeling of claustrophobia». Adjective: «claustrophobic».

### Examples

- Grandma has claustrophobia, so she always takes the stairs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/#x1)
- The narrow cave gave me a touch of claustrophobia. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/#x2)
- People with claustrophobia can find MRI scans hard. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/#x3)
- The crowded train carriage felt claustrophobic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/#x4)
- Breathing slowly can help with claustrophobia. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/#x5)
- The story's tunnel scene was full of claustrophobia. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/#x6)

### Note

Uncountable. Say «klos-truh-FOH-bee-uh». From Latin «claustrum» (closed place) + Greek «phobia» (fear). Opposite fear: agoraphobia (fear of open or crowded public places). A phobia is real and not silly; do not tease people about it.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «claustrophobia» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/claustrophobia/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«claustrophobia» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/claustrophobia.html) on Mova free.