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threaten

verb
/ˈθɹɛt.n̩/US

Etymology

From Middle English thretenen, from Old English þrēatnian (“to urge, force, compel”), equivalent to threat + -en.

  1. inherited from þrēatnian — “to urge, force, compel”
  2. inherited from thretenen

Definitions

  1. To make a threat against someone

    To make a threat against someone; to use threats.

    • No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts.
    • He threatened me with a knife.

  2. To menace, or be dangerous.

    • The rocks threatened the ship's survival.

  3. To portend, or give a warning of.

    • The black clouds threatened heavy rain.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. To call into question the validity of (a belief, idea, or viewpoint)

      To call into question the validity of (a belief, idea, or viewpoint); to challenge.

      • The new information threatened our original hypothesis.

    2. To be close to equaling or surpassing (a record, etc.)

      To be close to equaling or surpassing (a record, etc.); to challenge.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at threaten. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01threaten02portend03serve04drink05alcoholic06addicted07addiction08jeopardizes09jeopardize

A definitional loop anchored at threaten. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at threaten

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA