English Explanatory Dictionary

threat

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An expression of intent to injure or punish another.
  2. An indication of potential or imminent danger.
  3. A person or object that is regarded as a danger; a menace.
verb
  1. To press; urge; compel.
  2. To threaten.
  3. To use threats; act or speak menacingly; threaten.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

thrĕt /θɹɛt/ en-us-threat.ogg /θɹet/ /θɾɛt/ /tɹɛt/ /fɹɛt/

Word forms

threat threats threating threated

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”).

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
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