threaten

From Middle English þreaten or þreten, from Old English þrēatian.

• enPR: thrĕt′n̩, IPA^(key): /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: threat‧en

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.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Hocussing of Cigarette‎:

     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. (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.

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs