hazard

American  

[haz-erd] / ˈhæz ərd /

noun

1. an unavoidable danger or risk, even though often foreseeable.

   The job was full of hazards.

   Antonyms:

   safety

2. something causing unavoidable danger, peril, risk, or difficulty.

   The many hazards of the big city did nothing to convince her to leave.

3. 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

4. Golf. a bunker, sand trap, or the like, constituting an obstacle.

5. the uncertainty of the result in throwing a die.

6. a game played with two dice, an earlier and more complicated form of craps.

7. Court Tennis. any of the winning openings.

8. (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)

1. 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.

2. to put to the risk of being lost; expose to risk.

   In making the investment, he hazarded all his savings.

   Synonyms:

   imperil, peril, endanger, stake

3. to take or run the risk of (a misfortune, penalty, etc.).

   Thieves hazard arrest.

4. to venture upon (anything of doubtful issue).

   to hazard a dangerous encounter.

idioms

1. at hazard, at risk; at stake; subject to chance.

   His reputation was at hazard in his new ventures.

hazard British  

/ ˈhæzəd /

noun

1. exposure or vulnerability to injury, loss, evil, etc

2. at risk; in danger

3. a thing likely to cause injury, etc

4. golf an obstacle such as a bunker, a road, rough, water, etc

5. chance; accident (esp in the phrase by hazard )

6. a gambling game played with two dice

7. real tennis

   1. the receiver's side of the court

   2. one of the winning openings

8. 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

1. to chance or risk

2. to venture (an opinion, guess, etc)

3. to expose to danger

Related Words

See danger.

Other Word Forms

• hazard-free adjective
• hazardable adjective
• hazarder noun
• hazardless adjective
• prehazard adjective
• unhazarded adjective
• unhazarding adjective
• well-hazarded adjective

Etymology

Origin of hazard

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English hasard from Old French, perhaps from Arabic al-zahr “the die”

Example Sentences

Police said his vehicle was found abandoned with its hazard lights on along a road in Karen, an upmarket suburb of the capital, Nairobi.

From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026

Just before 7 a.m., a Benin intelligence operative took surreptitious video of five rebel armored vehicles and four pickups leaving QRF headquarters, hazard lights flashing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

Pediatricians have long warned that tapioca pearls can pose a choking hazard.

From Science Daily • Mar. 1, 2026

Although it was only detected in two places and at levels "not considered sufficient to pose a significant radiation hazard", the report said further investigation "would be warranted" if the use of the land changed.

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

“I can hazard no opinion. I do not know what to think, and I have no data on which to found a conjecture.”

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

Related Words

• accident
• mishap
• possibility
• risk