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. liable to

5. critically ill in hospital

Other Word Forms

• dangerless adjective
• superdanger 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

The danger, experts say, is how these powerful new tools, now affordable to almost anyone, can be used.

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King made 51 not out - her first international fifty - as the pair steered Australia away from danger and then struck a flurry of boundaries to take 59 runs from the last five overs.

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While past reports have highlighted the dangers of deforestation, this study spotlights a more insidious threat: fire-driven degradation that erodes forest integrity without necessarily clearing it.

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When police began searching for him in the summer of 2023 he was described as "a danger to women."

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The public has often thought of these danger zones as separate entities.

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Related Words

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