THREAT

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does threat mean? 

• THREAT (noun)
  The noun THREAT has 4 senses:

1. something that is a source of danger

2. a warning that something unpleasant is imminent

3. declaration of an intention or a determination to inflict harm on another

4. a person who inspires fear or dread

  Familiarity information: THREAT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THREAT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that is a source of danger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

menace; threat

Context example:

earthquakes are a constant threat in Japan

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

danger (a cause of pain or injury or loss)

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

yellow peril (the threat to Western civilization said to arise from the power of Asiatic peoples)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A warning that something unpleasant is imminent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

they were under threat of arrest

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

warning (a message informing of danger)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Declaration of an intention or a determination to inflict harm on another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

his threat to kill me was quite explicit

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

declaration (a statement that is emphatic and explicit (spoken or written))

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

commination (a threat of divine punishment or vengeance)

menace (a threat or the act of threatening)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A person who inspires fear or dread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

scourge; terror; threat

Context example:

he was the terror of the neighborhood

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

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

 Context examples 

Any immune system response of an organisms to an internal or invasive threat.

(Immune Response Process, NCI Thesaurus)

“I thank you many times. Trot, my dear, a vain threat! Let us have Mr. and Mrs. Micawber back. And don't any of you speak to me!”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

No complaint had been lodged with the police, so that Beddoes had mistaken a threat for a deed.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A coded value specifying the type of hazard or threat associated with the drug.

(Drug Risk Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

A coded value specifying the type of hazard or threat associated with the device.

(Device Risk Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

Could the answer to this threat be hidden in clays formed in minerals deep in the Earth?

(New answer to MRSA, other 'superbug' infections: clay minerals?, NSF)

A coded value specifying the type of hazard or threat associated with the biologic.

(Biologic Risk Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

The man had looked the threat, and Martin hastened to cry: No, no; I've got it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I recollected my threat and resolved that it should be accomplished.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

More than 300 animal species face different degrees of threat in Bahia state.

(Over 300 animal species threatened in Bahia, Agência Brasil)