1. An intense dread of cats, including polecats, skunks, and weasels: Katherine's galeophobia was extreme because she was afraid to even walk in the garden for fear of seeing or hearing a cat there.
2. An abnormally persistent horror of sharks: Those who have galeophobia experience anxiety even though they may be safe on a boat, on a ship, or on a beach.
3. Etymology: derived from the Greek words galeos, "shark with markings resembling those on a weasel" and phobos, "fear".

Galeophobia is also used as an alternate term for a "fear of cats", because the Greek word galeos is derived from galee, a Greek element meaning "polecat" and "weasel".