danger

[ deyn-jer ]

noun

1. liability or exposure to harm or injury; risk; peril.
2. an instance or cause of peril; menace.
3. Obsolete. power; jurisdiction; domain.

danger

/ ˈdeɪndʒə /

noun

1. the state of being vulnerable to injury, loss, or evil; risk
2. a person or thing that may cause injury, pain, etc
3. obsolete.
   power
4. in danger of
   liable to
5. on the danger list
   critically ill in hospital

Derived Forms

• ˈdangerless, adjective

Other Words From

• danger·less adjective
• super·danger noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of danger¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English da(u)nger, from Anglo-French, Old French dangier, alteration of dongier (by influence of dam damage ), from Vulgar Latin domniārium (unrecorded), equivalent to Latin domini(um) dominion + -ārium (neuter of -ārius -ary )

Word History and Origins

Origin of danger¹

C13: daunger power, hence power to inflict injury, from Old French dongier (from Latin dominium ownership) blended with Old French dam injury, from Latin damnum

Synonym Study

Danger, hazard, peril, jeopardy imply harm that one may encounter. Danger is the general word for liability to all kinds of injury or evil consequences, either near at hand and certain, or remote and doubtful: to be in danger of being killed. Hazard suggests a danger that one can foresee but cannot avoid: A mountain climber is exposed to many hazards. Peril usually denotes great and imminent danger: The passengers on the disabled ship were in great peril. Jeopardy, a less common word, has essentially the same meaning as peril, but emphasizes exposure to the chances of a situation: To save his friend he put his life in jeopardy.

Example Sentences

Unfortunately, this change alone can only mitigate the danger of misleading health information, but does little to actually stop it.

From TechCrunch

Geologists are also warning of the danger of destructive debris flows.

From Popular-Science

Halloween is still a long way off, but as summer ends, some Outside editors are getting in the spirit early with a new HBO horror series, an unsettling novel about the dangers of technology, and a book all about death rituals.

From Outside Online

“We need another scale or some totally different way of warning of a danger,” says Masters.

From Popular-Science

Without privacy, we run the danger that someone will build The Ring and destroy society by ruling us all.

From Fortune

Kickstarter is one start-up platform that seems to have realized the danger.

From The Daily Beast

What had been the greatest asset of the paperback revolution,” observes Rabinowitz, “became its greatest danger.

From The Daily Beast

He remained as hopeful as ever that he would himself join the NYPD, whatever the danger.

From The Daily Beast

They work in a world filled with a sense—real or imagined—of danger lurking around each corner and every hallway.

From The Daily Beast

The actions of North Korea this week should also send a clear message about the danger of this regime.

From The Daily Beast

But the greatest danger I ever underwent in that kingdom was from a monkey, who belonged to one of the clerks of the kitchen.

From Project Gutenberg

In particular the Governor of Adinskoy offered us a guard of fifty men to the next station, if we apprehended any danger.

From Project Gutenberg

Worst danger zone, the open sea, now traversed, but on land not yet out of the wood.

From Project Gutenberg

We got off our horses and stooped over the man, forgetting for the moment that danger might lurk in the surrounding thicket.

From Project Gutenberg

They soon retired, however, as the Fort was in danger of being attacked from another side.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• crisis
• emergency
• exposure
• insecurity
• instability
• jeopardy
• menace
• peril
• pitfall
• possibility
• probability
• risk
• threat
• uncertainty
• vulnerability