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threaten
[ thret-n ]
verb (used with object)
- to utter a threat against; menace:
He threatened the boy with a beating.
- to be a menace or source of danger to:
Sickness threatened her peace of mind.
Synonyms: endanger
- to offer (a punishment, injury, etc.) by way of a threat:
They threatened swift retaliation.
- to give an ominous indication of:
The clouds threaten rain.
verb (used without object)
- to utter or use threats.
- to indicate impending evil or mischief.
threaten
/ ˈθrɛtən /
verb
- tr to be a threat to
- to be a menacing indication of (something); portend
dark clouds threatened rain
- when tr, may take a clause as object to express a threat to (a person or people)
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Derived Forms
- ˈthreatener, noun
- ˈthreateningly, adverb
- ˈthreatening, adjective
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Other Words From
- threaten·er noun
- outthreaten verb (used with object)
- pre·threaten verb (used with object)
- re·threaten verb
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Word History and Origins
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Example Sentences
Anyone willing to threaten war over a joke is clearly not playing with a full deck.
Seevakumaran uploaded six videos to YouTube on March 17, just hours before he would threaten his roommate and commit suicide.
Second, they threaten one of the most precious resources in our state: public education that is open to all children.
“I meet with the editors, I write them letters, I threaten them,” he said.
Nothing may actually threaten America more than our own fears.
There are no chains to my prison, no steel cuffs to gall the limbs, no guards to threaten and cow me.
I suppose you think it's brave to come back from the front and threaten a defenceless man with a revolver?
To raise a club over the head of another and threaten to strike if he speaks, would be an assault.
I have everywhere remarked that the Indians jangle and threaten a great deal, but that they never go beyond that.
The British under Burgoyne had advanced their works so far as to threaten a complete inclosure of the continental army.
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