See Also: Threat(money)
threat(1)(dictionary)
threat(2)(dictionary)
threat(dictionary)
THREAT, crim(law)
THREAT, evidence(law)
Triple-Threat Player - Poker(gambling)

threat(1) (iou)



threat noun.
[Old English Treat (masc.) cogn. with Old Norse Traut (fem.) struggle, labour, from Germanic base of THREAT verb.]
I. A throng or crowd of people; a troop, a band. OE-ME.
II. Oppression, compulsion; torment; distress, misery; danger. OE-LME.
A declaration of an intention to take some hostile action; esp. a declaration of an intention to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other punishment in retribution for something done or not done; Chess a move that creates (esp. intentionally) the possibility of a capture or other advantageous move. Also, an indication of the approach of something unwelcome or undesirable; a person or thing regarded as a likely cause of harm etc. ME.
under threat at risk; exposed to the possibility of some specified adverse action or circumstance.
Shakespeare Julius Caesar There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats. E. Wharton A threat of rain darkened the sky. R. Scruton The movement to reform the House of Lords has arisen in the face of a threat to abolish it. New York Times Coal mining in those areas was a threat to public safety.
Zoology. Animal behaviour that keeps other animals at a distance or strengthens social dominance without physical conflict. M20.
threat display, threat signal, etc.