hazards

Noun

hazard (countable and uncountable, plural hazards)

1. (historical) A game of chance played with dice, usually for monetary stakes, popular mainly from 14th c. to 19th c.
   • [T]here's Harry diets himself—for gaming and is now under a hazard Regimen.1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, III.iii
2. Chance; accident, unpredictability.
   • I will stand the hazard of the die.c. 1597, William Shakespeare, Richard III, act 5, scene 4

   Synonyms:

   fortune

3. (uncountable) The risk of some loss or harm; danger, peril, the chance of an adverse outcome.
   • He encountered the enemy at the hazard of his reputation and life.

   Synonyms:

   adventure

4. (countable) A situation involving such a risk of harm or loss; (later also) a person or object which poses such a risk, something seen as a source of danger or difficulty.
   • The video game involves guiding a character on a skateboard past all kinds of hazards.
5. (real tennis) Each of the various openings or galleries around the side of a court.
6. (obsolete) Anything that is hazarded or risked, such as a stake in gambling.
   • But if you please
     To shoot another arrow that self way
     Which you did shoot the first, I do not doubt,
     As I will watch the aim, or to find both
     Or bring your latter hazard back again
     And thankfully rest debtor for the first.c. 1600, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

   Synonyms:

   bet, pledge, skin in the game, wager

See all 14 meanings of hazard