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to threaten
01
to say that one is willing to damage something or hurt someone if one's demands are not met
Transitive: to threaten sb | to threaten to do sth
Grammatical Information
Composition
Simple
Action verb
Regular
Present tense
threaten
3rd person singular
threatens
Present participle
threatening
Past simple
threatened
Past participle
threatened
Examples
The robber threatened the store clerk with a knife if they did n't hand over the money.
02
to indicate a potential danger or risk to someone or something
Transitive: to threaten sth
Examples
His aggressive behavior began to threaten the safety of those around him.
03
to show signs or provide a warning of something bad or harmful that may happen
Transitive: to threaten an undesirable situation
Examples
The darkening sky threatened rain, prompting people to leave the beach.
Lexical Tree
threatened
threatening
threatening
threaten
