From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstab of pain/disappointment/fear etcstab of pain/disappointment/fear etcFEEL HAPPY/FRIGHTENED/BORED ETCa sudden sharp feeling of pain or a strong emotion He felt a stab of guilt. → stab
Examples from the Corpus
stab of pain/disappointment/fear etc• Supposing, he thought, with a stab of fear, he was never going to have any friends?• Instinctively he rolled in the saddle and felt the white-hot stab of pain as something sharp scored a line across his shoulders.• She stretched, and little stabs of pain shot through her.• I felt a sharp stab of disappointment and was surprised and angry at myself.• The policeman pinched his eyes as if overcome with a sudden stab of pain.• I bit my arm and was grateful for the stab of pain, for the resistance of the bone beneath the skin.• As Grant hurried down the narrow concrete stairs, he felt the first warning stab of pain in his torn thigh muscle. 