threat

[ thret ]

noun

1. a declaration of an intention or determination to inflict punishment, injury, etc., in retaliation for, or conditionally upon, some action or course:

   His family convinced him to take the anonymous threats seriously and call the police.

2. an indication or warning of probable trouble, or of being at risk for something terrible:

   The threat of a storm was in the air.

   He confessed under the threat of imprisonment.

3. a person or thing that threatens:

   Her attorney will try to convince the judge that she is not a threat to herself or others.

verb (used with or without object)

1. Archaic. to threaten:

   Do you dare to accuse and threat within my very home?

threat

/ θrɛt /

noun

1. a declaration of the intention to inflict harm, pain, or misery
2. an indication of imminent harm, danger, or pain
3. a person or thing that is regarded as dangerous or likely to inflict pain or misery

verb

1. an archaic word for threaten

Other Words From

• coun·ter·threat [koun, -ter-thret], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of threat¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun thret(e) “crowd, multitude, verbal menace,” Old English thrēat “crowd, pressure, oppression, punishment”; cognate with Old Norse thraut “hardship, great struggle”; verb from the noun; threaten ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of threat¹

Old English; related to Old Norse thraut, Middle Low German drōt

Idioms and Phrases

see triple threat .

Example Sentences

Rowena MacDonald said Mr MacDonald made the threat weeks before allegedly shooting and seriously injuring the man, John MacKenzie, and his wife Fay.

From BBC

Does this movie pose a threat to live music in any way?

From Los Angeles Times

I don’t see it as a threat — no more of a threat than any concert film.

From Los Angeles Times

She said Assad "is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States" - and defended meeting him in 2017, during Trump's first term.

From BBC

I wanted to understand why and, by extension, what it said about the rise and threat of American extremism as the world warms.

From Salon

Related Words

• blackmail
• hazard
• intimidation
• menace
• peril
• risk