danger
Americannoun
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dangers
plural
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liability or exposure to harm or injury; risk; peril.
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an instance or cause of peril; menace.
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Obsolete. power; jurisdiction; domain.
noun
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the state of being vulnerable to injury, loss, or evil; risk
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a person or thing that may cause injury, pain, etc
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obsolete power
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liable to
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critically ill in hospital
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of danger
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 )
Explanation
When you're in danger, it seems likely that you might get hurt. Your mom might warn you that if you don't wear your bicycle helmet, you're in danger of getting injured. A baby bird teetering on the edge of its nest is in danger, and a driver whose car stalls on railroad tracks is also in danger. When something unpleasant might happen, you can also use the word danger: "We were in danger of running out of guacamole before the party ended." Danger can also be a precarious or perilous place, as when you step up on the curb on a busy street, out of danger.
Vocabulary lists containing danger
Indiana Jones Vocabulary
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Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 1)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“The Rumbler system provides an earlier, more noticeable warning that an emergency vehicle is approaching, giving motorists and pedestrians additional time to recognize the danger and respond safely.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
"Days of danger" is the Daily Mirror's headline, leading with swimming warnings as "temperatures set to soar again".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
As a prominent class enemy Emanuel was certainly in danger, as were his half-brothers Gösta and Emil, who worked for the business and were briefly detained by the Cheka.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Early is interested in the sickly vanity of eating disorders and conceptual femininity, and he explores the danger of these illnesses through a lens that is both uneasy and unique to his film.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
“They’re in danger, you know,” she told Father and me.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
“Maddie’s Secret” does an impressive job of highlighting the dangers of this kind of enabling.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
She stressed the dangers of confining discussion of eating disorders to weight alone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued Meta -- which makes Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp -- in 2023, alleging the company failed to protect children from online dangers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
A man who suffered third-degree burns from hot sand after using a disposable barbecue on a beach has warned others to be aware of the dangers.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
They also shared all the possible dangers that loomed in the air because somebody had said or done something that should not have been said or done.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
