THREATEN • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Threaten

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/θrˈɛtən/ Listen

verb

Threaten v. t. (past & past part. threatened; pres. part. threatening)

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. "Let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name."

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. "The skies look grimly And threaten present blusters."

Synonyms: To menace. Threaten, Menace. Threaten is Anglo-Saxon, and menace is Latin. As often happens, the former is the more familiar term; the latter is more employed in formal style. We are threatened with a drought; the country is menaced with war. "By turns put on the suppliant and the lord: Threatened this moment, and the next implored." "Of the sharp ax Regardless, that o'er his devoted head Hangs menacing."

Threaten v. i. To use threats, or menaces; also, to have a threatening appearance. "Though the seas threaten, they are merciful."

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Etymology of 'Threaten'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Threaten" Quotes from Famous Books

... amid the stars They glower athwart the land Implacable, with 'eye like Mars To threaten and command.' Too cold, too truculent, to stay The awful bolt They fling, They make no bones about it—They Are ...

— Rhymes of the East and Re-collected Verses • John Kendall (AKA Dum-Dum)

... master, and the wind was blowing so hard that his voice would not carry. He was just about to shout "France! France!" when he woke up, with the perspiration standing on his brow and the conviction full upon him as he reached for his cloak and sword that real danger did threaten his lord, ...

— The King's Esquires - The Jewel of France • George Manville Fenn

... himself notorious as a privateersman. Every one had heard her awe-inspiring name, and every Yankee seafaring man prayed that he might never meet her on the seas. After the Alabama was sunk, and the Talahassee was withdrawn, the Kanawha still remained to threaten the shipping of the North. For a long time her whereabouts had been unknown, and then she was discovered by a Federal gunboat, which gave chase and fired upon her. Without returning fire, she raced in for shelter amongst ...

— Great Pirate Stories • Various

... material support or WMD, will be carefully coordinated to ensure prioritization of intelligence, proper allocation of resources, and, when necessary, swift, decisive action. We will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes and terrorists to threaten us with the world's most ...

— National Strategy for Combating Terrorism - February 2003 • United States

... parturition was accompanied with many throes, for sorely did he twist about his physiognomy, and much did he stumble in his speech, before he could express his idea, "That the lad being now wedded to his spiritual bride, it was hard to threaten him with ane temporal spouse in the same day." He then laughed a hoarse and brief laugh, and was suddenly grave and silent, as if abashed at ...

— The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott

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