venture

venture
venture vb Venture, hazard, risk, chance, jeopardize, endanger, imperil can all mean to expose to the chance of being unsuccessful, lost, or injured.
Venture implies a daring to stake something (as the success of an action or undertaking, one's life, or one's property)
on the chance of getting an advantage or gain whether great or small; the term implies only the chances taken and the contingencies foreseen and does not, apart from the context, indicate its outcome
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he determined to venture his life and his fortunes for the cause of freedom

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you have deeply ventured; but all must do so who would greatly win— Byron

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But venture is often used in a weakened sense to mean little more than dare or, sometimes, attempt
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imagine the fate of a university don of 1860, or 1870, or 1880, or even 1890 who had ventured to commend Leaves of Grass to the young gentlemen— Mencken

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his class fellows were all rather gloomily polite to him, and one or two ventured awkward words of condolence— Archibald Marshall

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Hazard usually implies the putting of something to the chance of losing it; the term suggests more uncertainty or precariousness than venture and less hope of a favorable outcome and is often used in place of venture because of this implication
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men that hazard all do it in hope of fair advantages— Shak.

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his own possessions, safety, life, he would have hazarded for Lucie and her child, without a moment's demur— Dickens

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Like venture, hazard is also often used in a much weaker sense but it comes closer to dare than to attempt
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sometimes as he hunted he got a glimpse of the giraffe moving through the bush, but was never near enough to hazard a shot— Cloete

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no Elizabethan dramatist offers greater temptation: to the scholar, to hazard conjecture of fact; and to the critic, to hazard conjecture of significance— T. S. Eliot

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Risk carries a still stronger implication of exposure to real dangers and of taking actual chances
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Captain Cook had sailed straight through the middle of the group, not risking a landing because of the fierce aspect of the natives— Heiser

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Chance may suggest a trusting to luck and a sometimes irresponsible disregarding of the risks involved in an action or procedure
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decided to withdraw from Kentucky rather than chance defeat in enemy territory— Hay

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I'll chance it, if it kills me

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Jeopardize carries further the implication of exposure to dangers; it implies not only that they are a constant threat but that the odds in one's favor are equally or even unfavorably balanced with those against one
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found it difficult to steer a course that should not jeopardize either his loyalty or his honesty— Sidney Lee

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no traveler from abroad, however fair-minded, could tell the truth about us without jeopardizing his life, liberty, and reputation— Brooks

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Endanger and imperil both stress exposure to dangers or perils, and do not in themselves throw emphasis upon a taking of chances. Imperil may imply more certainty or more imminence to the predicted risk than endanger but the two words are often used interchangeably without significant loss
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not so great a wind as to endanger us— Defoe

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condemned the abolitionists as agitators who actually endangered the cause of freedom— Cole

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a jungle of aggressive power politics which imperils internal reconversion, the healing of the wounds of war, and the creation of the political apparatus necessary for one world— Mark Starr

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new technical processes and devices litter the countryside with waste and refuse, contaminate water and air, imperil wildlife and man and endanger the balance of nature itself— Kennedy

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New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.

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  • Venture — Ven ture, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Ventured}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Venturing}.] 1. To hazard one s self; to have the courage or presumption to do, undertake, or say something; to dare. Bunyan. [1913 Webster] 2. To make a venture; to run a hazard or risk; …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • venture — ven·ture / ven chər/ n: an undertaking involving chance, risk, or danger; esp: a speculative business enterprise see also joint venture Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …   Law dictionary

  • Venture — Ven ture, v. t. 1. To expose to hazard; to risk; to hazard; as, to venture one s person in a balloon. [1913 Webster] I am afraid; and yet I ll venture it. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To put or send on a venture or chance; as, to venture a horse to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Venture — Ven ture (?; 135), n. [Aphetic form of OE. aventure. See {Adventure}.] 1. An undertaking of chance or danger; the risking of something upon an event which can not be foreseen with certainty; a hazard; a risk; a speculation. [1913 Webster] I, in… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • venture — [ven′chər] n. [ME, aphetic for aventure: see ADVENTURE] 1. a risky or dangerous undertaking; esp., a business enterprise in which there is danger of loss as well as chance for profit 2. something on which a risk is taken, as the merchandise in a… …   English World dictionary

  • venture — (v.) mid 15c., to risk the loss (of something), shortened form of aventure, itself a form of ADVENTURE (Cf. adventure). General sense of to dare, to presume is recorded from 1550s. Noun sense of risky undertaking first recorded 1560s; meaning… …   Etymology dictionary

  • venture — [n] gamble, attempt adventure, baby*, chance, deal, endeavor, enterprise, essay, experiment, exploit, feat*, hazard, header, investment, jeopardy, peril, pet project*, project, proposition, pursuit, risk, setup*, shot*, spec*, speculation, stab* …   New thesaurus

  • venture on — index commence Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • venture — ► NOUN 1) a risky or daring journey or undertaking. 2) a business enterprise involving considerable risk. ► VERB 1) dare to do something dangerous or risky. 2) dare to say something that may be considered audacious. ● nothing ventured, nothing… …   English terms dictionary

  • Venture — A venture is a major undertaking, synonymous with adventure. But can also refer to:In automobiles: * Chevrolet Venture, a General Motors Corporation minivan. * VentureOne, a concept car by Venture VehiclesIn business: * Joint venture, a strategic …   Wikipedia

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