threat

[thret]

See more synonyms for threat on Thesaurus.com

noun

a declaration of an intention or determination to inflict punishment, injury, etc., in retaliation for, or conditionally upon, some action or course; menace: He confessed under the threat of imprisonment.
an indication or warning of probable trouble: The threat of a storm was in the air.
a person or thing that threatens.

verb (used with or without object)

Archaic. to threaten.

Origin of threat

before 900; (noun) Middle English threte, Old English thrēat pressure, oppression; cognate with Old Norse thraut hardship, bitter end; (v.) Middle English threten, Old English thrēatian to press, threaten

Related formscoun·ter·threat, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for threat

Contemporary Examples

When communism was a threat, it was construed as a communist plot.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers
Michael Schulson
July 27, 2016
But this war jumps from city to city, depending the threat of the day.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War
Nancy A. Youssef
January 7, 2015
“The threat streams to U.S. interests and Western interests are off the chart,” he said.
ISIS Fight Has a Spy Shortage, Intel Chair Says
Kimberly Dozier
January 2, 2015
The Perfect Storm writer talks combat brotherhood and the threat posed by growing wealth inequality.
Sebastian Junger on War, Loss, and a Divided America
The Daily Beast Video
January 1, 2015
But not even the threat of death can suppress the urge to live vicariously through Jack Dawson and James Bond.
North Korea’s Secret Movie Bootleggers: How Western Films Make It Into the Hermit Kingdom
Lizzie Crocker
December 22, 2014

Historical Examples

Then I shall have to put it out of your power to carry out your threat.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
And you forget that—that devil—suppose she's as good as her threat?
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
One threat which he used again and again, discovers all his world-blindness to me.
The Man Shakespeare
Frank Harris
He did not seem particularly alarmed at her threat—or, perhaps, he did not care.
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
"I'll have you before his honour," is the threat of an Irishman who hopes for partiality.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for threat

threat

noun

a declaration of the intention to inflict harm, pain, or misery
an indication of imminent harm, danger, or pain
a person or thing that is regarded as dangerous or likely to inflict pain or misery

verb

an archaic word for threaten

Word Origin

Old English; related to Old Norse thraut, Middle Low German drōt

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

Word Origin and History for threat

n.

Old English þreat "crowd, troop," also "oppression, menace," related to þreotan "to trouble, weary," from Proto-Germanic *threutanan (cf. German verdrießen "to vex"), from PIE *trud- "push, press" (cf. Latin trudere "to press, thrust," Old Church Slavonic trudu "oppression," Middle Irish trott "quarrel, conflict," M.Welsh cythrud "torture, torment, afflict"). Sense of "conditional declaration of hostile intention" was in Old English.

Idioms and Phrases with threat

threat

see triple threat.

threat

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Examples from the Web for threat

Contemporary Examples

When communism was a threat, it was construed as a communist plot.

But this war jumps from city to city, depending the threat of the day.

“The threat streams to U.S. interests and Western interests are off the chart,” he said.

The Perfect Storm writer talks combat brotherhood and the threat posed by growing wealth inequality.

But not even the threat of death can suppress the urge to live vicariously through Jack Dawson and James Bond.

Historical Examples

Then I shall have to put it out of your power to carry out your threat.

And you forget that—that devil—suppose she's as good as her threat?

One threat which he used again and again, discovers all his world-blindness to me.

He did not seem particularly alarmed at her threat—or, perhaps, he did not care.

"I'll have you before his honour," is the threat of an Irishman who hopes for partiality.

threat

Word Origin

Word Origin and History for threat

n.

Idioms and Phrases with threat

threat

Origin of threat