Night'māre, n.

(nīt'-), n. [Prov. Ger. nachtmar, nachtmahr, D. nachtmerrie. See MARE.]

1. A sensation in sleep as of the pressure of a weight on the chest or stomach, and of an impossibility of motion, speech, or respiration, from which one wakes after extreme anxiety, in a troubled state of mind; incubus. Dunglison.
2. Hence, any overwhelming, oppressive, or stupefying influence.