endanger
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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endangersimple
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endangerssimple
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have endangeredperfect
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has endangeredperfect
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am endangeringprogressive
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are endangeringprogressive
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is endangeringprogressive
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have been endangeringperfect progressive
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has been endangeringperfect progressive
Past
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endangeredsimple
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had endangeredperfect
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was endangeringprogressive
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were endangeringprogressive
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had been endangeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of endanger
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at en- 1, danger
Explanation
To endanger someone is to put them in a dangerous position, or to threaten their safety. It would endanger your little brother if you encouraged him to jump off the garage roof into a pile of leaves. Texting while you drive is a good way to endanger yourself, as well as your passengers and anyone else nearby. Scientists warn that climate change will slowly begin to endanger many plant and animal species on Earth, possibly including humans. This 15th century word combines the prefix en-, "make or put in" with danger, from the Old French dangier, "power to harm."
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:
Conventional logic would suggest that Iran should avoid actions that could endanger diplomacy.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
The safety concern is that, during an outage, this auxiliary electricity source could endanger electricians or utility workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
“These additional allowances would not only endanger our emissions targets, they would also flood the auction market and depress cap-and-invest revenues,” said Pam Odell of the group Climate Action California.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
The boom has caused alarm among environmentalists who fear the scramble for critical minerals -- and the precious dollars they inject into Argentina's economy -- could endanger water supplies.
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
“Private Williams,” said I, “there are more sicknesses than the smallpox, and we endanger ourselves by resting in the vapors.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Although it endangers his secret Traitor identity, he tries to protect Funches.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
The judge emphasized that Dobbs focused on a right to elective abortion, while Seyb’s case “tests how far Idaho may go when a woman’s pregnancy severely endangers her health.”
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026
Pope Leo XIV may be right in the long-term that artificial intelligence endangers humanity, but investors are ignoring him in the short-term as they try cashing in on Wall Street’s hottest theme.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
None of this endangers the mathematical theory of relativity or the empirical science that confirms it.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
What’s free about it, they reasoned, when the law forces you to educate your children and then endangers their lives to get them into school?
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
His brand of patrician conservatism, Ms. Jones writes, “remains one of the most recognizable, if increasingly endangered, traditions within contemporary British political discussion and analysis.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
The move redefines “harm” under the Endangered Species Act, the landmark conservation law that protects threatened and endangered plants and animals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Thanks to cultivation techniques, the Huntington coaxes the plants to bloom every two to three years, not four to six like they do in their natural habitat, where they’re endangered.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
The animal, one of the world's most endangered and trafficked mammals, has been stripped of its scales and is being advertised by a Thai account selling "seasonal wild delicacies".
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
They had things they must do otherwise K’oo’ko would haunt their dreams with her great fangs and everything would be endangered.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
The Myanmar-born activist, was detained on suspicion of espionage and endangering national security.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Chinese authorities said they arrested a Northern California scholar earlier this month, accusing him of espionage and endangering national security.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
China said it had detained American citizen Min Zin on suspicion of espionage and endangering national security.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
They added that there was also evidence that people had scaled the slopes in order to burn the evidence, potentially endangering local wildlife and the environment.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
I spent hours trying to figure out what I must do to rescue myself while not endangering my family or anyone around me.
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.
