threat
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English threte, thret, thrat, thræt, threat, from Old English þrēat (“crowd, swarm, troop, army, press; pressure, trouble, calamity, oppression, force, violence, threat”), from Proto-Germanic *þrautaz, closely tied to Proto-Germanic *þrautą (“displeasure, complaint, grievance, labour, toil”), from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to squeeze, push, press”). Cognate with Scots thret, threte, threit (“threat”), Middle High German drōz (“annoyance, disgust, horror, terror, fright”), Middle Low German drōt (“threat, menace, danger”), Faroese treyt (“struggle, labour, distress”), Icelandic þraut (“struggle, labour, distress”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian труд (trud, “work, labour”), Czech trud (“effot, hard work”), Polish trud (“hard work”), Serbo-Croatian trȗd (“effort, hard work”).
Inflected forms:
form: threats
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: threats
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: threating
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: threated
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: threated
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: An expression of intent to injure or punish another.
pos: noun
examples: There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats.
At the height of the crisis, according to a retired SAC wing commander, SAC airborne alert bombers deliberately flew past their turnaround points toward Soviet airspace, an unambiguous threat which Soviet radar operators would certainly have recognized and reported. "I knew what my target was," the SAC general adds: "Leningrad." The bombers only turned around when the Soviet freighters carrying missiles to Cuba stopped dead in the Atlantic.
gloss: An indication of potential or imminent danger.
pos: noun
examples: Verifying and addressing actual threats is not paranoia.
Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.
Taiwan is monitoring what it called "abnormal" changes to China's military leadership after its most senior general was put under investigation, and will not lower its guard as the threat level remains high, the defence minister said on Monday.
gloss: A person or object that is regarded as a danger; a menace.
pos: noun
examples: Rooney's United team-mate Chris Smalling was given his debut at right-back and was able to adjust to the international stage in relatively relaxed fashion as Bulgaria barely posed a threat of any consequence.
Japan applauds NATO’s identification of China as a threat in the Strategic Concept. The document notes that China poses “systemic challenges” and declared the “deepening strategic partnership” between Moscow and Beijing as one of its main priorities. Significantly, it explained that developments in distant theaters can “directly affect” trans-Atlantic security.
gloss: To press; urge; compel.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To threaten.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
transitive
examples: An hideous Geant horrible and hye, / That with his talnesse seemd to threat the skye […]
What? threat you me with telling of the King? I will auoucht’t in preſence of the King: I dare aduenture to be ſent to th’Towre.
O yes, and soundless too; / For you have stolen their buzzing, Antony, / And very wisely threat before you sting.
gloss: To use threats; act or speak menacingly; threaten.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
Synonyms: intimidation
warning
menace
threat
Antonyms: protection
Related words: threaten
threatening
or else
omen
danger
Derived words: biothreat
counterthreat
cyberthreat
death threat
empty threat
idle threat
immunothreat
nonthreat
second-order threat
stereotype threat
threat actor
threatful
threatless
threatmate
threatproof
threatscape
threatsome
threatspot
throffer
triple threat
Translations: