MENACE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does menace mean? 

• MENACE (noun)
  The noun MENACE has 2 senses:

1. something that is a source of danger

2. a threat or the act of threatening

  Familiarity information: MENACE used as a noun is rare.

• MENACE (verb)
  The verb MENACE has 3 senses:

1. pose a threat to; present a danger to

2. express a threat either by an utterance or a gesture

3. act in a threatening manner

  Familiarity information: MENACE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MENACE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that is a source of danger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

menace; threat

Context example:

earthquakes are a constant threat in Japan

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

danger (a cause of pain or injury or loss)

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

yellow peril (the threat to Western civilization said to arise from the power of Asiatic peoples)

Derivation:

menace (pose a threat to; present a danger to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A threat or the act of threatening

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

he spoke with desperate menace

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

threat (declaration of an intention or a determination to inflict harm on another)

Derivation:

menace (act in a threatening manner)

menace (express a threat either by an utterance or a gesture)

• MENACE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they menace    ... he / she / it menaces   
Past simple: menaced   
Past participle: menaced   
-ing form: menacing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pose a threat to; present a danger to

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

endanger; imperil; jeopardise; jeopardize; menace; peril; threaten

Context example:

The pollution is endangering the crops

Hypernyms (to "menace" is one way to...):

be; exist (have an existence, be extant)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot menace Sue

Derivation:

menace (something that is a source of danger)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Express a threat either by an utterance or a gesture

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

he menaced the bank manager with a stick

Hypernyms (to "menace" is one way to...):

evince; express; show (give expression to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

menace (a threat or the act of threatening)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Act in a threatening manner

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

A menacing person

Hypernyms (to "menace" is one way to...):

act; behave; do (behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

menace (a threat or the act of threatening)

 Context examples 

Her sharp, menacing cry sent the hair bristling along his back, and he snarled warningly at her.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was something between a snore and a growl, low, deep, and exceedingly menacing.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The murderer was a constant menace.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Mugridge menaced with the knife he was sharpening for me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I laughed in my sleeve at his menaces.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She had at first yielded to our entreaties, but when she heard that the life of her favourite was menaced, she could no longer control her anxiety.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

His words were quiet, but he had a rasping way of saying them which was very menacing.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With his disengaged hand he made a menace of striking me, and then looked at me from head to foot.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

On the one hand soldiers, sailors, and statesmen of the quality of Pitt, Nelson, and afterwards Wellington, had been forced to the front by the imminent menace of Buonaparte.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)