DANGER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does danger mean? 

• DANGER (noun)
  The noun DANGER has 4 senses:

1. the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury

2. a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury

3. a cause of pain or injury or loss

4. a dangerous place

  Familiarity information: DANGER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DANGER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The condition of being susceptible to harm or injury

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

there was widespread danger of disease

Hypernyms ("danger" is a kind of...):

condition; status (a state at a particular time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "danger"):

clear and present danger (a standard for judging when freedom of speech can be abridged)

hazardousness; perilousness (the state of being dangerous)

insecurity (the state of being subject to danger or injury)

peril; riskiness (a state of danger involving risk)

exposure; vulnerability (the state of being vulnerable or exposed)

Antonym:

safety (the state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

danger; peril; risk

Context example:

there was a danger he would do the wrong thing

Hypernyms ("danger" is a kind of...):

venture (any venturesome undertaking especially one with an uncertain outcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "danger"):

chance (a risk involving danger)

crapshoot (a risky and uncertain venture)

gamble (a risky act or venture)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A cause of pain or injury or loss

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

he feared the dangers of traveling by air

Hypernyms ("danger" is a kind of...):

causal agency; causal agent; cause (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "danger"):

endangerment; hazard; jeopardy; peril; risk (a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune)

powder keg (a potentially explosive state)

menace; threat (something that is a source of danger)

Derivation:

dangerous (involving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A dangerous place

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Context example:

He moved out of danger

Hypernyms ("danger" is a kind of...):

area; country (a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography))

Derivation:

dangerous (involving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm)

 Context examples 

Here was danger, some treachery or something.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

A disorder characterized by apprehension of danger and dread accompanied by restlessness, tension, tachycardia, and dyspnea unattached to a clearly identifiable stimulus.

(Anxiety Disorder, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

In addition, the danger is posed by terrestrial microorganisms that returned from space after visiting another planet and transforming in an unknown manner in its atmosphere.

(Mutated Terrestrial Bacteria That Return from Space Pose Threat to Life on Earth, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The danger comes if water pools up in surface depressions on the ice shelf to form large lakes.

(Surface lakes cause Antarctic ice shelves to ‘flex’, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

ARS scientists have devised a method to retool the compound so that it poses little to no danger to human or animal cells but can still kills germs.

(Soil Bacterium Tapped for Penicillin Guard Duty, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

A feeling of apprehension that one may be in danger.

(Fear, NCI Thesaurus)

If you think that an older person is in urgent danger, call 9-1-1.

(Elder Abuse, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

You should know the risks and danger signs of different types of disasters.

(Disaster Preparation and Recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency)

Whether I was at all in danger of being hanged?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Then a crash followed, offering a warning sign to the modern world about the dangers of overpopulation.

(Scientists chart a baby boom in southwestern Native Americans from 500 to 1300 A.D., NSF)