threaten Definition and Meaning in English (threaten definition)

verb
Quick Answer • Definition

Threaten definition: To express an intention to inflict harm, injury, or punishment on someone.

Definitions of Threaten

  1. 1verb

    To express an intention to inflict harm, injury, or punishment on someone.

  2. 2verb

    To be a potential source of danger or harm to someone or something.

  3. 3verb

    To indicate the imminent possibility of an undesirable event or situation.

Example Sentences

“The boss threatened to fire him if he didn't finish the report on time.”

“Rising sea levels threaten coastal cities around the world.”

“Dark clouds threatened rain, so we took an umbrella.”

Inflected Word Forms

third person singularthreatens
past tensethreatened
present participlethreatening
nounthreat
agent nounthreatener

Phrases & Idiomatic Expressions

threaten legal actioncollocation

To state an intention to sue someone or take them to court.

threaten to do somethingexpression

To state an intention to perform an action, often an undesirable one.

threaten with a weaponcollocation

To use a weapon to intimidate or scare someone.

Frequently Asked Questions: Threaten in English

What is the meaning of Threaten in English?▼
Threaten definition: To express an intention to inflict harm, injury, or punishment on someone.
How do you translate 'Threaten' to English?▼
'Threaten' translates to 'threaten' in English. Threaten definition: To express an intention to inflict harm, injury, or punishment on someone.
How do you pronounce 'Threaten' and 'threaten'?▼
Listen to clear English audio pronunciation of 'Threaten' and native English audio speech for 'threaten' with bilingual sentence examples on DictBridge.

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