endanger
Americanverb (used with object)
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endangers,
present (3rd person singular)
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endangered,
past participle, past
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endangering
present participle
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:
A woman was cleared of possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and perverting the course of justice.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
A blocked street can delay an ambulance or endanger someone whose emergency has nothing to do with immigration enforcement.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 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
It held back on striking Beirut due to pressure from the U.S., which is concerned such attacks could endanger its fragile cease-fire with Iran, until Thursday when the military said it conducted targeted strikes there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
All MK members were forbidden to go armed into an operation and were not to endanger life in any way.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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
None of this endangers the mathematical theory of relativity or the empirical science that confirms it.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
It shows a "a dangerous desire to play with fire" that endangers stability in Germany, one government source charged.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
I will attempt to eat at the table, or read the newspaper there, but it’s so small and rickety that any wrong movement endangers the house.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
But a Cal Fire firefighter stepped in on Tuesday, escorting a staff member to the property so she could release the critically endangered birds back into the wild.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The Hemi V-8 began to look like an endangered species.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The park, a one-hour bush-plane flight from Anchorage, is known for its abundance of brown bears, horned puffins and critically endangered beluga whales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The animal has recently been taken off the international endangered species list and is now classified as near-threatened.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
For a time the roads were endangered by a fantastic creature, half man and half ape, that a traveller to the West had captured and brought back to China in a cage.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
A jury in New Mexico previously ordered Meta to pay $375 million after it found the company liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms, among other harms.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
A teenager accused of endangering the lives of 165 migrants by allegedly piloting a record-breaking dinghy crossing of the English Channel is to stand trial.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Getting such a charter would give huge latitude to crypto banks, endangering unsophisticated investors, critics say.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Myanmar-born activist, was detained on suspicion of espionage and endangering national security.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
All that hard work, solving the clues, burning midnight oil, endangering the lives of his friends, it had all come to nothing.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
