Panic starts to feel like anxious pattern (4)

I believe the answer is:

flap

'panic' is the definition.
(getting in a flap is panicking)

'starts to feel like anxious pattern' is the wordplay.
'starts to' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'feel like anxious pattern' is 'FLAP'.

(Other definitions for flap that I've seen before include "Minor panic; tab" , "Wave up and down - panic" , "State of panic" , "Moving surface on wing" , "Flutter" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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