risk

[ risk ]
See synonyms for: riskriskingrisksriskless on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance: It's not worth the risk.

  2. Insurance.

    • the hazard or chance of loss.

    • the degree of probability of such loss.

    • the amount that the insurance company may lose.

    • a person or thing with reference to the hazard involved in insuring him, her, or it.

    • the type of loss, as life, fire, marine disaster, or earthquake, against which an insurance policy is drawn.

verb (used with object)
  1. to expose to the chance of injury or loss; hazard: to risk one's life.

  2. to venture upon; take or run the chance of: to risk a fall in climbing;to risk a war.

Idioms about risk

  1. at risk,

    • in a dangerous situation or status; in jeopardy: families at risk in the area of the weakened dam.

    • under financial or legal obligation; held responsible: Are individual investors at risk for the debt part of the real estate venture?

  2. take / run a risk, to expose oneself to the chance of injury or loss; put oneself in danger; hazard; venture.

Origin of risk

1
First recorded in 1655–65; from French risque, from Italian rischio, risco, of obscure origin

Other words for risk

Other words from risk

  • risker, noun
  • riskless, adjective
  • un·risked, adjective

Words Nearby risk

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use risk in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for risk

risk

/ (rɪsk) /


noun
  1. the possibility of incurring misfortune or loss; hazard

  2. insurance

    • chance of a loss or other event on which a claim may be filed

    • the type of such an event, such as fire or theft

    • the amount of the claim should such an event occur

    • a person or thing considered with respect to the characteristics that may cause an insured event to occur

  1. at risk

    • vulnerable; likely to be lost or damaged

    • social welfare vulnerable to personal damage, to the extent that a welfare agency might take protective responsibility

  2. no risk Australian informal an expression of assent

  3. take a risk or run a risk to proceed in an action without regard to the possibility of danger involved in it

verb(tr)
  1. to expose to danger or loss; hazard

  2. to act in spite of the possibility of (injury or loss): to risk a fall in climbing

Origin of risk

1
C17: from French risque, from Italian risco, from rischiare to be in peril, from Greek rhiza cliff (from the hazards of sailing along rocky coasts)

Derived forms of risk

  • risker, noun

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with risk

risk

In addition to the idiom beginning with risk

  • risk life and limb

also see:

  • at risk
  • calculated risk
  • run a risk

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.