- danger
- danger n Danger, peril, jeopardy, hazard, risk mean either the state or fact of being threatened with loss of life or property or with serious injury to one's health or moral integrity or the cause or source of such a threat.Danger is the general term and implies contingent evil in prospect but not necessarily impending or inescapable{
to win renown even in the jaws of danger and of death— Shak.
}{where one danger's near, the more remote, tho' greater, disappear— Cowley
}{troub!ed by the danger that the manuscript might be lost— Van Dor en
}{a frame of adamant, a soul of fire, no dangers fright him— Johnson
}Peril usually carries a stronger implication of imminence than danger and suggests even greater cause for fear and a much higher degree of probability of loss or injury{in perils of waters, in perils of robbers ... in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea—2 Cor 11:26
}{he lived in constant peril— Buchan
}{the perils which threaten civilization— Ellis
}Jeopardy implies exposure to extreme or dangerous chances{why stand we in jeopardy every hour?—/ Cor 15:30
}The term is much used in law in reference to persons accused of serious offenses, being tried in court, and therefore exposed to the danger of conviction and punishment{nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb— U. S. Constitution
}{it seems to me that logically and rationally a man cannot be said to be more than once in jeopardy in the same cause, however often he may be tried— Justice Holmes
}Hazard implies danger from something fortuitous or beyond one's control; it is not so strong a term as jeopardy{the amusements . . . of most of us are full of hazard and precariousness— Froude
}{there would have been no triumph in success, had there been no hazard of failure— Newman
}{travel on the thoroughfares of Manila was not without its hazards— Heiser
}Risk, more frequently than hazard, implies a voluntary taking of doubtful or adverse chances{no adventure daunted her and risks stimulated her— Ellis
}{life is a risk and all individual plans precarious, all human achievements transient— Edman
}Analogous words: threatening or threat, menacing or menace (see corresponding verbs at THREATEN): precariousness (see corresponding adjective at DANGEROUS): emergency, exigency, pass (see JUNCTURE)Antonyms: security
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
