Threaten
['θret(ə)n] or ['θrɛtn]
Definition
(verb.) to utter intentions of injury or punishment against:'He threatened me when I tried to call the police'.
(verb.) to be a menacing indication of something:'The clouds threaten rain'; 'Danger threatens'.
Typist: Miguel--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To utter threats against; to menace; to inspire with apprehension; to alarm, or attempt to alarm, as with the promise of something evil or disagreeable; to warn.
(v. t.) To exhibit the appearance of (something evil or unpleasant) as approaching; to indicate as impending; to announce the conditional infliction of; as, to threaten war; to threaten death.
(v. i.) To use threats, or menaces; also, to have a threatening appearance.
Edited by Linda
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Menace, denounce, defy.[2]. Portend, presage, forebode, augur, foreshadow, prognosticate, indicate.
v. n. Impend, be near at hand, be imminent, stare one in the face.
Editor: Wilma
Examples
- The cavalry, however, were to threaten Charleston on the right, and Augusta on the left. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- You shall threaten him with the Secret, and frighten him too. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Then my temper got the better of me, and I began to threaten her. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The front of the house was towards the heath and Rainbarrow, whose dark shape seemed to threaten it from the sky. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I am surrounded by mountains of ice, which admit of no escape, and threaten every moment to crush my vessel. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- I therefore gave orders for another move to the north side of the James River, to threaten Richmond. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Advance no farther than you have gone already, compromise no serious interests, threaten nobody. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- For years I had gradually weaned him from that drug mania which had threatened once to check his remarkable career. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- I threatened no one. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- They jostled, browbeat, and threatened one another, but they did not come to actual hostilities. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- One Tallien threatened him with a dagger. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- A cold grey sky threatened rain, and a high wind drove the dust in wild spirals up and down the streets. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Meantime, Mr. Rochester affirmed I was wearing him to skin and bone, and threatened awful vengeance for my present conduct at some period fast coming. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- But the next time Will came when Lydgate was away, she spoke archly about his not going to London as he had threatened. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Some sailors being aloft in the main-topsail rigging, the captain had ordered them to race down, threatening the hindmost with the cat-of-nine-tails. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- As Mr. Bumble said this, he put on a grim and threatening look, and added, in a low voice, 'Mind what I told you, you young rascal! Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- The long-threatening storm is sure to break at last. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- There'll shortly be an end of YOU,' said Wegg, threatening it with the hat-box. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The whole garrison turned out under arms and assumed a threatening attitude--yet still we did not fear. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- At this hour and by this light it changes into threatening hands raised up and menacing the handsome face with every breath that stirs. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Farther west also the troubles were threatening. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- He won't do it unless he is very much worried, and only threatens it sometimes, when he gets tired of studying. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Fascination is never so imperial as when, roused and half ireful, she threatens transformation to fierceness. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- May there not be something in these recent events which threatens her secret with discovery? Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- The bow is ornamented with a steel comb with a battle-ax attachment which threatens to cut passing boats in two occasionally, but never does. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- It reefs its sail when a storm threatens or the wind blows pretty hard, and furls it entirely and goes down when a gale blows. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Another lover threatens prosecution! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Everybody threatens me. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Typist: Lycurgus