hazard
Americannoun
-
an unavoidable danger or risk, even though often foreseeable.
The job was full of hazards.
- Antonyms:
- safety
-
something causing unavoidable danger, peril, risk, or difficulty.
The many hazards of the big city did nothing to convince her to leave.
-
the absence or lack of predictability; chance; uncertainty.
There is an element of hazard in the execution of the most painstaking plans.
- Synonyms:
- fortuitousness, fortuity, accident
-
Golf. a bunker, sand trap, or the like, constituting an obstacle.
-
the uncertainty of the result in throwing a die.
-
a game played with two dice, an earlier and more complicated form of craps.
-
Court Tennis. any of the winning openings.
-
(in English billiards) a stroke by which the player pockets the object ball winning hazard or their own ball after contact with another ball losing hazard.
verb (used with object)
-
to offer (a statement, conjecture, etc.) with the possibility of facing criticism, disapproval, failure, or the like; venture.
He hazarded a guess, with trepidation, as to her motives in writing the article.
-
to put to the risk of being lost; expose to risk.
In making the investment, he hazarded all his savings.
-
to take or run the risk of (a misfortune, penalty, etc.).
Thieves hazard arrest.
-
to venture upon (anything of doubtful issue).
to hazard a dangerous encounter.
idioms
noun
-
exposure or vulnerability to injury, loss, evil, etc
-
at risk; in danger
-
a thing likely to cause injury, etc
-
golf an obstacle such as a bunker, a road, rough, water, etc
-
chance; accident (esp in the phrase by hazard )
-
a gambling game played with two dice
-
real tennis
-
the receiver's side of the court
-
one of the winning openings
-
-
billiards a scoring stroke made either when a ball other than the striker's is pocketed ( winning hazard ) or the striker's cue ball itself ( losing hazard )
verb
-
to chance or risk
-
to venture (an opinion, guess, etc)
-
to expose to danger
Synonym Usage
See danger.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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hazardernoun
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hazard-freeadjective
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hazardableadjective
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hazardlessadjective
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prehazardadjective
-
unhazardedadjective
-
unhazardingadjective
-
well-hazardedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hazardsimple
-
hazardssimple
-
have hazardedperfect
-
has hazardedperfect
-
am hazardingprogressive
-
are hazardingprogressive
-
is hazardingprogressive
-
have been hazardingperfect progressive
-
has been hazardingperfect progressive
Past
-
hazardedsimple
-
had hazardedperfect
-
was hazardingprogressive
-
were hazardingprogressive
-
had been hazardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hazard
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English hasard from Old French, perhaps from Arabic al-zahr “the die”
Explanation
If something is a hazard, it is a potential source of danger. Balloons are fun, but they're a hazard for little kids who might put them in their mouths. If you play miniature golf, you have to watch for hazards on the course — obstacles like the sand trap beside the dinosaur or the water hazard just past the windmill. As a verb, hazard means to take a risk, especially for the chance of a good return. You might hazard your chances at the roulette table or hazard a guess — that is, risk making a guess when you aren't certain.
Vocabulary lists containing hazard
"Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center," Vocabulary from the speech
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
A beach hazard statement is in effect through Wednesday afternoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The reviews will examine whether the hardware and software meet performance requirements and whether appropriate hazard controls are in place.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
But he did have 10,000 books in a 600-square-foot studio; the letter stated that this was a fire hazard and delivered an ultimatum: Lose the books or risk eviction.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Here are some tips to distinguish a good deal from a potential hazard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
The inward person doth shrink and hesitate before the daunting inception of active deeds, wishing that some discouraging voice should intervene and forbid, so that no hazard might be made.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Rick Pellen from Pest UK said it was important to keep pigeon numbers controlled so they were not causing hazards, but the method of shooting was typically a "last resort".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
If he had amassed the same number of records, skateboard decks or vintage gaming consoles — all fire hazards — would he have gotten the same eviction warning?
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
They will be used to help train AI models capable of swift and reliable forecasting in areas like weather, climate and natural hazards.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
American jet fighters have also intervened to protect tankers from approaching fastboats and other hazards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Yes, there were hazards on the way—Dakota war parties, hunger, the threat of winter’s dire weather.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
I hazarded a number of guesses as to where the movement, and more importantly the reaction to it, was headed.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2022
Edward Holmes does not like making predictions, but last year he hazarded a few.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 19, 2021
Watching “The Goldfinch,” I found myself fantasizing about one of the possible audacities that the movie, absent Theo’s unifying voice, could have hazarded.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 18, 2019
Brandt hazarded an estimate of double what the highest-paid quarterbacks currently make, which would put Brady’s annual salary somewhere around $46-50 million.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 26, 2017
“If a black cat crosses your path, you’ll have bad luck,” hazarded Tendai.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Borinsky invites guesses; the problem is that we might not care enough for any of the people or ideas onstage to bother hazarding them.
From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2023
Yet nowhere in the Federalist essays do any of the authors explain why liberty is so valuable that it is worth hazarding the consequences of human nature.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 4, 2022
The Navy confirmed that Mays was the sailor charged Thursday with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 4, 2021
The Navy declined to name the sailor who was charged Thursday with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2021
I feared early instilled prejudice: I wanted to have you safe before hazarding confidences.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
