threat

UK/θɹɛt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/θɹet/

threat noun: an expression of intent to injure or punish another.

Noun

threat (plural threats)

An expression of intent to injure or punish another.
- There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- At the height of the crisis, according to a retired SAC wing commander, SAC airborne alert bombers deliberately flew past their turnaround points toward Soviet airspace, an unambiguous threat which Soviet radar operators would certainly have recognized and reported. "I knew what my target was," the...1995, Richard Rhodes, “Scorpions in a Bottle”, in Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 575
An indication of potential or imminent danger.
- Verifying and addressing actual threats is not paranoia.
- Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3
A person or object that is regarded as a danger; a menace.
- Rooney's United team-mate Chris Smalling was given his debut at right-back and was able to adjust to the international stage in relatively relaxed fashion as Bulgaria barely posed a threat of any consequence.2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC
- Japan applauds NATO’s identification of China as a threat in the Strategic Concept. The document notes that China poses “systemic challenges” and declared the “deepening strategic partnership” between Moscow and Beijing as one of its main priorities. Significantly, it explained that developments in...2022 July 1, The Japan Times Editorial Board, “Groundbreaking NATO summit means work for Japan”, in The Japan Times, archived from the original on 01 Jul 2022, Editorials

Verb

threat (third-person singular simple present threats, present participle threating, simple past and past participle threated)

(transitive) To press; urge; compel.
(archaic, transitive) To threaten.
- An hideous Geant horrible and hye, / That with his talnesse seemd to threat the skye […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- What? threat you me with telling of the King? I will auoucht’t in preſence of the King: I dare aduenture to be ſent to th’Towre.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
(intransitive) To use threats; act or speak menacingly; threaten.

Proper noun capitalized: Threat

Threat (plural Threats)

A surname.

threat meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

threat in Hindi

expression of intent to injure or punish another: धमकी dhamkī
indication of imminent danger: जोखिम jokhim

threat in Urdu

expression of intent to injure or punish another: ڈَپَٹ ḍapaṭ, دَھمْکی dhamkī, تَہْدِید tahdīd
indication of imminent danger: جوکِھم jokhim

threat in Bengali

threat: ধমক dhomok, ধামকি dhamki, হুমকি humki

More languagesFewer languages

threat in Malayalam: ഭീഷണി bhīṣaṇi
threat in Kannada: ಹೆದರಿಕೆ, ಬೆದರಿಕೆ, ಬೆದರ್ಕೆ, ಭಯ
threat in Punjabi: ڈراوا ḍarāvā, ਡਰਾਵਾ ḍarāvā
threat in Odia: ଡରାଣ ḍarāṇa
threat in Sanskrit: भर्त्सन bhartsana
threat in Tagalog: bala, banta
threat in Arabic: تَهْدِيد tahdīd
threat in Malay: ugutan, ancaman
threat in Indonesian: ancaman
threat in Thai: ภัย pai, คำขู่, ภยันตราย pá-yan-dtà-raai
threat in Vietnamese: uy hiếp, lời đe doạ, mối hiểm hoạ

Examples of threat in a sentence

Japan applauds NATO’s identification of China as a threat in the Strategic Concept.2022 July 1, The Japan Times Editorial Board, “Groundbreaking NATO summit means work for Japan”, in The Japan Times, archived from the...
O yes, and soundless too; / For you have stolen their buzzing, Antony, / And very wisely threat before you sting.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies...

All 40 example sentences with threat

Synonyms of threat

Antonyms

protection

Forms of threat

Noun
plural	threats
Verb
third-person singular present	threats
present participle	threating
past participle	threated
past	threated
Proper noun
plural	Threats

Plural of threat: threats

Origin of threat

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”).

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”).

Words formed from threat

Phrases with threat

threat actors

Words that rhyme with threat

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about threat

What does threat mean?: Threat means an expression of intent to injure or punish another.
What is threat in Hindi?: Threat in Hindi is धमकी (dhamkī), जोखिम (jokhim). See Threat meaning in Hindi.
How do you use threat in a sentence?: Japan applauds NATO’s identification of China as a threat in the Strategic Concept.
What part of speech is threat?: Threat can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce threat?: Threat is pronounced /θɹɛt/ (UK).
What is the plural of threat?: The plural of threat is threats.

Words near threat in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-threat.ogg.

Cite this entry: “threat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/threat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.