threaten

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

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

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• Rhymes: -ɛtn̩
• 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.
   • 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.

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