Link Centre Dictionary

threat

UK/θɾɛt/ US/θɹɛt/ common

noun

1.

something that is a source of danger

  • “earthquakes are a constant threat in Japan”
Synonyms
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”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English threten, from Old English þrēatian (“to press, oppress, repress, correct, threaten”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to squeeze, push, press”). Cognate with Scots threit (“to threaten”), Dutch verdrieten (“to sadden, displease”), Middle Low German drēten (“to threaten”), German verdrießen (“to bother, vex”), Faroese tróta (“to run out”), Icelandic þrjóta (“to run out, end”), Norwegian tryte (“to run out, end”), Swedish tryda (“to run out”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌸𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽 (usþriutan, “to harass, torment”), Latin trūdō (“to push”), Albanian ndrydh (“to sprain, supress, withdraw”), Belarusian трудзіць (trudzicʹ, “to burden, tire”), Bulgarian тру̀дя (trùdja, “to work”), Czech trudit (“to toil, worry”), Polish trudzić (“to toil, worry”), Russian труди́ть (trudítʹ, “to burden, tire”), Serbo-Croatian trúditi (“to try, make and effot”), Ukrainian труди́ти (trudýty, “to toil, tire”).

Phrases

  • death threat
  • empty threat
  • idle threat
  • or else
  • second-order threat
  • stereotype threat
  • threat actor
  • triple threat

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.