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8 dictionary results for: Threat

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

threat

[thret] Pronunciation Key,

–noun

1.	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.

2.	an indication or warning of probable trouble: The threat of a storm was in the air.

3.	a person or thing that threatens.

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

4.	Archaic. to threaten.

[Origin: bef. 900; (n.) ME threte, OE thréat pressure, oppression; c. ON thraut hardship, bitter end; (v.) ME threten, OE thréatian to press, threaten

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

threat (thrět) Pronunciation Key
n.

An expression of an intention to inflict pain, injury, evil, or punishment.
An indication of impending danger or harm.
One that is regarded as a possible danger; a menace.

tr.v. threat·ed, threat·ing, threats Archaic
To threaten.

[Middle English, from Old English thrēat, oppression; see treud- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
threat

O.E. þreat "crowd, troop," also "oppression, menace," related to þreotan "to trouble, weary," from P.Gmc. *threutanan (cf. Ger. verdrießen "to vex"), from PIE *trud- "push, press" (cf. L. trudere "to press, thrust," O.C.S. trudu "oppression," M.Ir. trott "quarrel, conflict," M.Welsh cythrud "torture, torment, afflict"). Sense of "conditional declaration of hostile intention" was in O.E. The verb threaten is O.E. þreatnian; threatening in the sense of "portending no good" is recorded from 1530.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

threat
noun
1.	something that is a source of danger; "earthquakes are a constant threat in Japan" [syn: menace]
2.	a warning that something unpleasant is imminent; "they were under threat of arrest"
3.	declaration of an intention or a determination to inflict harm on another; "his threat to kill me was quite explicit"
4.	a person who inspires fear or dread; "he was the terror of the neighborhood" [syn: terror]

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

threat

see triple threat.

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Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: threat
Function: noun
: an expression of an intention to injure another : MENACE 1 threats> —see also STALKING

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Threat

Threat\ (thr[e^]t), n. [AS. [thorn]re['a]t, akin to [=a][thorn]re['o]tan to vex, G. verdriessen, OHG. irdriozan, Icel. [thorn]rj[=o]ta to fail, want, lack, Goth. us[thorn]riutan to vex, to trouble, Russ. trudite to impose a task, irritate, vex, L. trudere to push. Cf. Abstruse, Intrude, Obstrude, Protrude.] The expression of an intention to inflict evil or injury on another; the declaration of an evil, loss, or pain to come; menace; threatening; denunciation.

There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats. --Shak.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Threat

Threat\, v. t. & i. [OE. [thorn]reten, AS. [thorn]re['a]tian. See Threat, n.] To threaten. [Obs. or Poetic] --Shak.

Of all his threating reck not a mite. --Chaucer.

Our dreaded admiral from far they threat. --Dryden.

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