FREAK

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does freak mean? 

• FREAK (noun)
  The noun FREAK has 2 senses:

1. a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed

2. someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it resembles an addiction

  Familiarity information: FREAK used as a noun is rare.

• FREAK (verb)
  The verb FREAK has 1 sense:

1. lose one's nerve

  Familiarity information: FREAK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FREAK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

freak; lusus naturae; monster; monstrosity

Hypernyms ("freak" is a kind of...):

mutant; mutation; sport; variation ((biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "freak"):

leviathan (the largest or most massive thing of its kind)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it resembles an addiction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

addict; freak; junkie; junky; nut

Context example:

a news junkie

Hypernyms ("freak" is a kind of...):

enthusiast; partisan; partizan (an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of some person or activity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "freak"):

gym rat (someone who spends all leisure time playing sports or working out in a gymnasium or health spa)

• FREAK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they freak    ... he / she / it freaks   
Past simple: freaked   
Past participle: freaked   
-ing form: freaking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lose one's nerve

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

freak; freak out; gross out

Context example:

When he saw the accident, he freaked out

Hypernyms (to "freak" is one way to...):

panic (be overcome by a sudden fear)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

What freak of fortune had brought it here—here of all spots? what chance of chances?

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

They began to get anxious, and Laurie went off to find her, for no one knew what freak Jo might take into her head.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

In some quaint freak of Nature, two spirits seemed to have been joined in one body, and the same frame to contain the best and the worst man of his age.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Because Uranus is the planet of all things unexpected, everyone at the office was shocked—none of your bosses or co-workers saw this announcement coming and probably freaked out.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Henry Crawford, ruined by early independence and bad domestic example, indulged in the freaks of a cold-blooded vanity a little too long.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

My pupil was a lively child, who had been spoilt and indulged, and therefore was sometimes wayward; but as she was committed entirely to my care, and no injudicious interference from any quarter ever thwarted my plans for her improvement, she soon forgot her little freaks, and became obedient and teachable.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A sudden freak seemed to have seized him at breakfast, and he had sent for a chaise and set off, intending to return to dinner, but with no more important view that appeared than having his hair cut.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I have no idea what backward sweep of memory had brought the matter fresh to his mind, or what freak had caused him to desire that I should recount it; but I hasten, before another cancelling telegram may arrive, to hunt out the notes which give me the exact details of the case and to lay the narrative before my readers.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

While old One Eye, the wolf crouching in the covert, played his part, too, in the game, waiting for some strange freak of Chance, that might help him on the meat-trail which was his way of life.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De Quincey’s description of his dreams and sensations, he had drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the same effects.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)