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View synonyms for peril

peril

[ per-uhl ]

noun

  1. exposure to injury, loss, or destruction; grave risk; jeopardy; danger:

    They faced the peril of falling rocks.

  2. something that causes or may cause injury, loss, or destruction.


verb (used with object)

, per·iled, per·il·ing or (especially British) per·illed, per·il·ling.
  1. to expose to danger; imperil; risk.

peril

/ ˈpɛrɪl /

noun

  1. exposure to risk or harm; danger or jeopardy
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Other Words From

  • peril·less adjective
  • multi·peril adjective noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of peril1

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin perīculum “danger, test, trial,” from perī-, verb base meaning “try” (also found in the compound experīrī “to try, test”; experience ) + -culum -cle 2
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Word History and Origins

Origin of peril1

C13: via Old French from Latin perīculum
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Synonym Study

See danger.
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Example Sentences

Day cares have long operated on slim margins, and the pandemic has thrown them into financial peril.

Naked ambitionAll this week I’ll be writing about “Purity” and Audrey Munson, a forgotten figure in the history of American film and a tragic example of the perils of celebrity.

Every several recipes, Martin breaks to detail life on the water — and highlight the peril Louisiana’s coastline faces.

Followers of late artists have in turn helped bring to light the perils of the music industry, in hopes of promoting change.

At least 46 million jobs supported by air transport are in peril.

From Fortune

We separate the search for justice from the search for truth at our peril.

Facts have weight and mass, and we ignore them or abuse them at our own peril.

I was lost, fresh back from Vietnam, searching, maybe, for a peril the equivalent of war but aimed in the direction of life.

Now poaching is on the rise and wildlife conservation in peril.

Rick must shepherd his newborn daughter, Judith, through this world of peril.

I must aspire to the agitating transports of self-devotion, in scenes of sacrifice and peril!

They tobogganed down hills without a brake at the imminent peril of their lives.

That caused me certain fevers, for as he died in the country outside this city in a garden his property was in great peril.

Lyn was no chicken-hearted weakling, to sit down and weep unavailingly in time of peril.

Madame Roland distinctly saw and deeply felt the peril to which she and her friends were exposed.

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