PERIL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does peril mean? 

• PERIL (noun)
  The noun PERIL has 3 senses:

1. a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune

2. a state of danger involving risk

3. a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury

  Familiarity information: PERIL used as a noun is uncommon.

• PERIL (verb)
  The verb PERIL has 2 senses:

1. pose a threat to; present a danger to

2. put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position

  Familiarity information: PERIL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERIL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

endangerment; hazard; jeopardy; peril; risk

Context example:

drinking alcohol is a health hazard

Hypernyms ("peril" is a kind of...):

danger (a cause of pain or injury or loss)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "peril"):

health hazard (hazard to the health of those exposed to it)

moral hazard ((economics) the lack of any incentive to guard against a risk when you are protected against it (as by insurance))

occupational hazard (any condition of a job that can result in illness or injury)

sword of Damocles (a constant and imminent peril)

Derivation:

peril (put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position)

peril (pose a threat to; present a danger to)

perilous (fraught with danger)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A state of danger involving risk

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

peril; riskiness

Hypernyms ("peril" is a kind of...):

danger (the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "peril"):

speculativeness (financial risk)

Derivation:

peril (put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position)

peril (pose a threat to; present a danger to)

perilous (fraught with danger)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

danger; peril; risk

Context example:

there was a danger he would do the wrong thing

Hypernyms ("peril" is a kind of...):

venture (any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "peril"):

chance (a risk involving danger)

crapshoot (a risky and uncertain venture)

gamble (a risky act or venture)

Derivation:

peril (put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position)

perilous (fraught with danger)

• PERIL (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pose a threat to; present a danger to

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

endanger; imperil; jeopardise; jeopardize; menace; peril; threaten

Context example:

The pollution is endangering the crops

Hypernyms (to "peril" is one way to...):

be; exist (have an existence, be extant)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot peril Sue

Derivation:

peril (a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune)

peril (a state of danger involving risk)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

endanger; expose; peril; queer; scupper

Hypernyms (to "peril" is one way to...):

affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on (have an effect upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "peril"):

compromise (expose or make liable to danger, suspicion, or disrepute)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

peril (a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury)

peril (a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune)

peril (a state of danger involving risk)

 Context examples 

“Do you know, Poole,” he said, looking up, “that you and I are about to place ourselves in a position of some peril?”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I felt willing rather to starve at sea than to confront such perils.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

If they do, it is more to their own peril, I believe, than to other people's.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

All was confusion and action, and every moment life and limb were in peril.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The thought occurred to him, however, that the king’s son might some day wish to be with his father, and thus bring him into great peril.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“I ride in his service,” cried the other, “and I carry that which belongs to him. You bar my path at your peril.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"At your peril you advertise! I wish I had only offered you a sovereign instead of ten pounds. Give me back nine pounds, Jane; I've a use for it."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The present, with all its perils and anxieties, rushed upon me with stunning force.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

God grant that we may be guided aright, and that He will deign to watch over my husband and those dear to us both, and who are in such deadly peril.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Whenever he steeled himself deliberately to think, he could see the desperate peril in which he stood.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)