threaten

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word threaten. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word threaten, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say threaten in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word threaten you have here. The definition of the word threaten will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofthreaten, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

From English threat +‎ -en, from Middle English thrēten, from Old English þrēatian.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: thrĕt′n̩, IPA(key): /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛtn̩
  • Hyphenation: threat‧en

Verb

threaten (third-person singular simple present threatens, present participle threatening, simple past and past participle threatened)

  1. To make a threat against someone; to use threats.
    • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
      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.
    • 2022 August 13, Sarah Wu, David Kirton, Ben Blanchard, quoting Tsai Ing-wen, “Taiwan thanks U.S. for maintaining security in Taiwan Strait”, in Tom Hogue, Michael Perry, William Mallard, editors, Reuters‎, archived from the original on 13 August 2022, World:
      "Taiwanese are very enthusiastic and love freedom and democracy, so many good international friends have come to Taiwan to support us. This is a normal and good thing, but China threatens and intimidates Taiwan," she said.
      "However, I would like to reassure everyone that both our government and the military are prepared, and I will definitely take care of Taiwan."
    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.
    Antonym: promise
    The black clouds threatened heavy rain.
  4. To call into question the validity of (a belief, idea, or viewpoint); to challenge.
    The new information threatened our original hypothesis.
    • 2019 January 26, Kevin Seybold, “Does Science Threaten Belief?”, in Cathedral of Hope‎:
  5. (figuratively) To be close to equaling or surpassing (a record, etc.)
    • 2000, Lew Freedman, Diamonds in the Rough: Baseball Stories from Alaska, →ISBN, page 69
      The player quickly surmised that things weren't kosher and the suddenly wiser ballplayer threatened the world record for the fifty-yard dash as he sought safety. As Reynolds dived into the van, Dietz and the other players rolled with laughter.

Usage notes

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia