hazard

[haz-erd]

noun

1. an unavoidable danger or risk, even though often foreseeable.

   The job was full of hazards.

   Antonyms: safety

2. something causing unavoidable danger, peril, risk, or difficulty.

   The many hazards of the big city did nothing to convince her to leave.

3. the absence or lack of predictability; chance; uncertainty.

   There is an element of hazard in the execution of the most painstaking plans.

   Synonyms: fortuitousness, fortuity, accident

4. Golf.,  a bunker, sand trap, or the like, constituting an obstacle.

5. the uncertainty of the result in throwing a die.

6. a game played with two dice, an earlier and more complicated form of craps.

7. Court Tennis.,  any of the winning openings.

8. (in English billiards) a stroke by which the player pockets the object ball winning hazard or their own ball after contact with another ball losing hazard.

verb (used with object)

1. to offer (a statement, conjecture, etc.) with the possibility of facing criticism, disapproval, failure, or the like; venture.

   He hazarded a guess, with trepidation, as to her motives in writing the article.

2. to put to the risk of being lost; expose to risk.

   In making the investment, he hazarded all his savings.

   Synonyms: imperil, peril, endanger, stake

3. to take or run the risk of (a misfortune, penalty, etc.).

   Thieves hazard arrest.

4. to venture upon (anything of doubtful issue).

   to hazard a dangerous encounter.

hazard

/ ˈhæzəd /

noun

1. exposure or vulnerability to injury, loss, evil, etc

2. at risk; in danger

3. a thing likely to cause injury, etc

4. golf an obstacle such as a bunker, a road, rough, water, etc

5. chance; accident (esp in the phrase by hazard )

6. a gambling game played with two dice

7. real tennis

   1. the receiver's side of the court

   2. one of the winning openings

8. billiards a scoring stroke made either when a ball other than the striker's is pocketed ( winning hazard ) or the striker's cue ball itself ( losing hazard )

verb

1. to chance or risk

2. to venture (an opinion, guess, etc)

3. to expose to danger

Other Word Forms

• hazardable adjective
• hazarder noun
• hazardless adjective
• prehazard adjective
• unhazarded adjective
• unhazarding adjective
• well-hazarded adjective
• hazard-free adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hazard¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English hasard from Old French, perhaps from Arabic al-zahr “the die”

Word History and Origins

Origin of hazard¹

C13: from Old French hasard, from Arabic az-zahr the die

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. at hazard, at risk; at stake; subject to chance.

   His reputation was at hazard in his new ventures.

Synonym Study

See danger.

Example Sentences

They worry that their colleagues will risk an unnecessary recession by overemphasizing the hazards of a persistent spell of higher inflation, which they think is remote.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Gusty winds and lightning with the snow may bring additional hazards.

Read more on BBC

County officials advised residents to “remain alert” for hazards.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Search efforts were briefly suspended overnight due to weather conditions and lightning, and a beach hazard warning was issued for the surrounding areas at the time.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Sanitation crews remove health and safety hazards and solid waste from the public right-of-way, according to the city’s sanitation and environment department.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accident 
• mishap 
• possibility 
• risk