Derived from the Ancient Greek βάσις (Bathos, “step”) and φόβος (phobos, “fear”) it can be defined in at least two ways:
1 The fear of stairs or steep slopes;
2 The fear of walking;
Usually it is taken to mean the fear of stairs or steep slopes and, in some cases, this fear can be so acute that merely seeing stairs or a steep slope can induce a panic attack.

Donald Trump is said to suffer from bathmophobia which probably explains why he holds the handrail tightly when negotiating stairs. It might be interesting to see what would happen if he was on a set of transparent, open-plan stairs with no handrail.

Bathmophobia by AKACroatalin February 9, 2017

Related Words

bashmo • Bashmooksoum • Bashmore Effect • bashmouth • bash mob • bushmonkey • Bashment • Bathmophobia • bahmo • bashcone

Bashophilia

A condition which requires the writing or reciting of haiku poetry in order for someone to reach orgasm. Named after Matsuo Bashō, a Japanese haiku poet, Bashophiliacs are unable to achieve orgasm without the aid of haiku(s).

Person A: What's taking you so long?!

Person B: Don't you know I have Bashophilia?

Person A: Oh right! I forgot!

When I touch your cock,
My erection palpatates.
I orgasm loads.

Person B: Oh FUCK. Here it comes.

Bashophilia by wyattsmom June 3, 2010

bushmongering

Replaces warmongering. Used to describe G.W. Bush's willingness to go to war.

The bushmongering has to stop before we're bombing every country on the planet.

bushmongering by darwin November 1, 2004

bashment

A west indian party where reggae mucic is played excessivly. Rap music is also thrown in the DJ's mix, but once agian the music is heavily dominated by reggae. A party where your most likely to see the latest dances, and see some of the SEXIEST west indian women wearing almost nothing. Flatbush, Brooklyn is known to throw some of the craziest bashments in NYC.

"Yo, theres a bashment in Flatbust tonight son..."

"Word? Aight, im gonna be there..."

bashment by Tim Shady May 17, 2005

Bashment

reggae dancehall music/dance

Remember the Bashment FM 87.5?
see smashed it

Bashment by liberty September 18, 2003

Bashower

A bashower is the combination of two maim words, shower and bath. To take a bashower you will start and get into a shower just like normal, but when the water comes out you sit down like you were taking a bath.

My day just isn't complete without my morning bashower.

Bashower by Dustin O February 15, 2009

murderhobo

In a tabletop game, a murderhobo is a player who murders NPCs indiscriminately. This is normally derogatory, referring to a player who totally ignores quests, dialog, backstory, trade, world building etc.

The term is most common with Dungeons and Dragons, but it can be applied to most RPGs where the player is allowed to kill most quest-giving NPCs and NPC traders. E.g. Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Divinity original sin.

DM: The sad little orphan girl tugs at Steve's trenchcoat to get his attention, and ask for help saving her pet dog from...
Steve: I'd like to roll a strength check against strangling the orphan.
Dave: I call dibs on the dog.
DM: You murderhobos disgust me.

murderhobo by Loup&S September 9, 2021

Word of the Day on September 22, 2026

Whale

In sales terms, a whale is a prospect that is significantly larger than an organization’s average customer.

Whales are large and extremely difficult to close. Due to their immense size, they are highly sought-after.

A whale is typically identified at first by a whale hunter on the sales team, but often requires cross-discipline participation in order to close; this includes assistance from operations, engineering, creative, client success, and business development teams.

"Shit...the sales director chewed me out on the sales call this morning. He's totally pissed that I have nothing in my pipeline. I've been focused on this one whale for so long that I haven't had time to prospect for normal-sized deals."

Whale by FQ_GFY February 3, 2020

Word of the Day on September 21, 2026

Concrete cowboy

A guy who thinks he's a country kinda guy, but in reality lives a comfortable city / suburban life.

Eugene: Look at that dude in the cowboy hat!
Todd: He's just a concrete cowboy.

Concrete cowboy by EugeneJohnson42000 March 16, 2024

Word of the Day on September 20, 2026

hobo loko

any hard liquor that is cheap & potent.. eg. relska, popov, potters, evan williams, kamchatka, fireball, rumpleminze, southern comfort, everclear

hey let's get a drink of that?

go ahead
*takes drink* ugh wtf is that?

everclear & bepsi
fucking hobo loko eeessshh

hobo loko by d i z k o 2 0 8 September 14, 2026

Word of the Day on September 19, 2026

God Shot

A chance happening with profound meaning, an unexpected blessing, a "sign".

Dr. Drew on Celebrity Rehab said "All of a sudden what had been just another Hollywood proposal became for him an unexpected blessing, an opportunity for growth. In drug recovery language, that's called a "God shot."

God Shot by Imogen1564 February 25, 2011

Word of the Day on September 18, 2026

city chicken

A food native to Pittsburgh/Western Pennsylvania in which cubes of pork and/or veal are put on a short, wooden skewer, breaded, then baked and/or fried.

I've heard that city chicken originated during the Great Depression, when folks didn't have enough money to buy full cuts of meat, so they assembled meat scraps on a wooden skewer, creating a make-shift drumstick. Hence the name.

Are yinz havin' city chicken for dinner?

city chicken by TRF August 31, 2006

Word of the Day on September 17, 2026