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threat

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threat

  [thret] ,
Use threat in a Sentence
–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 thrēat pressure, oppression; c. ON thraut hardship, bitter end; (v.) ME threten, OE thrēatian to press, threaten
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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threat   (thrět)   
n.  

  1. An expression of an intention to inflict pain, injury, evil, or punishment.

  2. An indication of impending danger or harm.

  3. 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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: threat
Function: noun
: an expression of an intention to injure another : MENACE 1 threats> —see also STALKING
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

threat

see triple threat.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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