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View synonyms for hazard

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 hazard
    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 )
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. to chance or risk
  2. to venture (an opinion, guess, etc)
  3. to expose to danger
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈhazard-ˌfree, adjective
  • ˈhazardable, adjective
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Other Words From

  • hazard·a·ble adjective
  • hazard·er noun
  • hazard·less adjective
  • pre·hazard adjective
  • un·hazard·ed adjective
  • un·hazard·ing adjective
  • well-hazard·ed adjective
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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”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of hazard1

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

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

    His reputation was at hazard in his new ventures.

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Synonym Study

See danger.
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Example Sentences

It might be a hazard of the job, and even if you leave Instagram, it would probably be good to talk to a therapist who can help you develop coping strategies.

Autonomous vehicles need to be able to predict whether a child is about to run into the road or whether a wobbling cyclist presents a hazard.

Yet, while desire is one thing, the hazards that await are another.

From Ozy

It is outrageous that these companies are keeping all of us in the dark about the dangers these workers face and the hazards that still exist across San Diego County and the state.

The job may look as simple as connecting two wires, but doing the job incorrectly can be a true safety hazard either immediately or down the road.

That is where the subordinate gangs like Big Hazard come in.

The Hazard gang is a multi-generational gang based in the East Los Angeles area.

Hazard ratios were largest for benzodiazepines—the most commonly prescribed drug class.

“Sexual assault is not an occupational hazard,” Arbogast said.

And garbage from this massive infrastructure project was also poured into the Mzymta River, causing an ecological hazard.

Not suspecting her motive, he represented the hazard of putting so great an affront on the favourite of the Empress.

A fifth by the sheer hazard of a lucky "deal" acquires a fortune without work at all.

She began to perceive what life really was, and the immense importance of hazard therein.

Lawrence, when the day was lost, rode back to prepare the hapless Europeans in the city for the hazard that now threatened.

That it was his determination to hazard all things rather than chill the coalition.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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