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venture

[ven-cher]
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noun
  1. an undertaking involving uncertainty as to the outcome, especially a risky or dangerous one: a mountain-climbing venture.
  2. a business enterprise or speculation in which something is risked in the hope of profit; a commercial or other speculation: Their newest venture allows you to order their products online.
  3. the money, ship, cargo, merchandise, or the like, on which risk is taken in a business enterprise or speculation.
  4. Obsolete. hazard or risk.
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verb (used with object), ven·tured, ven·tur·ing.
  1. to expose to hazard; risk: to venture one's fortune; to venture one's life.
  2. to take the risk of; brave the dangers of: to venture a voyage into space.
  3. to undertake to express, as when opposition or resistance appears likely to follow; be bold enough; dare: I venture to say that you are behaving foolishly.
  4. to take the risk of sending.
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verb (used without object), ven·tured, ven·tur·ing.
  1. to make or embark upon a venture; dare to enter or go: He ventured deep into the jungle.
  2. to take a risk; dare; presume: to venture on an ambitious program of reform.
  3. to invest venture capital.
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adjective
  1. of or relating to an investment or investments in new businesses: a venture fund.
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Idioms
  1. at a venture, according to chance; at random: A successor was chosen at a venture.
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Origin of venture

1400–50; late Middle English, aphetic variant of aventure adventure
Related formsven·tur·er, nounpre·ven·ture, noun, verb, pre·ven·tured, pre·ven·tur·ing.un·ven·tured, adjective

Synonyms

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5. endanger, imperil, jeopardize.

Synonym study

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

Related Words

madcappioneerswashbucklerexplorerwandererdaredevilopportunistheroinepiratespeculatormercenaryherotravelercharlatanentrepreneurgamblerromanticvoyagerglobetrotterfortune-hunter

Examples from the Web for venturer

Historical Examples

  • Eating the forbidden fruit was the best record ever made by a Venturer.

    Strictly Business

    O. Henry

  • Instantly the venturer was up and at the flap, peering outside.

  • Though well they know that from the vacant unislanded main the venturer has rarely returned.

  • And more,—deliver also that venturer who, but for my thoughtless words of the red flower, would be now safe on the Saskatchewan.

  • Men were racing frantically along the bridge above, and all hell and bedlam broke loose on the Venturer.

    The Hour of the Dragon

    Robert E. Howard

British Dictionary definitions for venturer

venture

verb
  1. (tr) to expose to danger; hazardhe ventured his life
  2. (tr) to brave the dangers of (something)I'll venture the seas
  3. (tr) to dare (to do something)does he venture to object?
  4. (tr; may take a clause as object) to express in spite of possible refutation or criticismI venture that he is not that honest
  5. (intr; often foll by out, forth, etc) to embark on a possibly hazardous journey, undertaking, etcto venture forth upon the high seas
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noun
  1. an undertaking that is risky or of uncertain outcome
    1. a commercial undertaking characterized by risk of loss as well as opportunity for profit
    2. the merchandise, money, or other property placed at risk in such an undertaking
  3. something hazarded or risked in an adventure; stake
  4. archaic chance or fortune
  5. at a venture at random; by chance
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Derived Formsventurer, noun

Word Origin

C15: variant of aventure adventure
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 venturer

venture

v.

mid-15c., "to risk the loss" (of something), shortened form of aventure, itself a form of adventure. General sense of "to dare, to presume" is recorded from 1550s. Noun sense of "risky undertaking" first recorded 1560s; meaning "enterprise of a business nature" is recorded from 1580s. Venture capital is attested from 1943.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with venturer

venture

see nothing ventured, nothing gained.

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