1reporting verb State one's intention to take hostile action against someone in retribution for something done or not done.

1. 1.1with object Express one's intention to harm or kill (someone)
   the men threatened the customers with a handgun
2. 1.2with object Cause (someone or something) to be vulnerable or at risk; endanger.
   a broken finger threatened his career

   one of four hospitals threatened with closure

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Oil drilling would likely threaten and compromise B.C. industries, such as tourism, and commercial and recreational fishing.
   • With the birth rate half of that in 1990 and mortality 50% higher, the country is threatened with rapid depopulation.
   • More than half of Madagascar's freshwater fish are threatened with extinction.
   • I have, since it was first threatened with closure, been a staunch campaigner both locally and in Parliament to save the maternity unit.
   • A year ago the inpatients ward was threatened with closure but was saved at the last minute when the doctors surgeries agreed to provide cover.
   • Both bird life (including the Kiwi) and many unique types of trees are threatened with extinction because of the brushtail possum.
   • Fears have been expressed that as many as 100,000 plant species are currently threatened with extinction worldwide.
   • Never should the great courses be threatened with obsolescence because of greed and contempt for the treasures of the game.
   • More than a few species, even humans, may be threatened by climate change.
   • Consuming nations are threatened with a worldwide oil shortage that rattles the stock and bond markets.
   • The result is that some 12 percent of mammal species and 11 percent of birds and plants are threatened with extinction.
   • The only remaining post office in Kew mysteriously closed its doors last week at a time when branches in various parts of the borough are threatened with the axe.
   • However, the numbers enrolling for chemistry, physics and maths degree courses are dropping and university science departments are threatened with closure.
   • They are not threatened with relegation yet, but if they do not alter their disappointing curve they could be treading that line before long.
   • Many of the nearly 700 species of indigenous plants are threatened with extinction.
   • Climate change threatens Britain's crumbling transport system
   • If the nation is threatened with a national crisis, traditional political rivalry is suspended and all parties work together in the interest of national unity.
   • He now faces returning to Greece in November for the appeal hearing and his haulage business is threatened with bankruptcy, with his lorry impounded by the Greek authorities.
   • One in five of Britain's wild flower species is threatened with extinction, according to the most detailed analysis to date of British flora.
   • He spent millions on his art collection, yachts, and palatial homes, including a castle in Wales, reining in only when his media empire was threatened with bankruptcy.

   Synonyms

   endanger, be a danger to, be a threat to, menace, imperil, put at risk, make vulnerable, expose to danger, put in jeopardy, jeopardize, drive a nail into the coffin of
3. 1.3with infinitive (of a situation or weather conditions) seem likely to produce an unpleasant or unwelcome result.
   the dispute threatened to spread to other cities

   with object the air was raw and threatened rain

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Rain threatened to mar the occasion but a light shower ended before the first round was fired.
   • As a council worker there have been a number of issues that threatened to turn into disputes, but concessions have been made by employers to avoid them.
   • The day had gotten considerably cooler since lunch and the grey clouds overhead now threatened to rain down on them.
   • There were heavy downpours even before Scotland's biggest rock and pop festival kicked off and the rain threatened to upstage the performers.
   • The dispute threatened to stop production lines at four car companies in Victoria and South Australia.
   • The rain which threatened to pour didn't fail to dampen the spirit of the crowd who were determined to get into the spirit of things.
   • A dispute with Jordan which threatened to get messy had been resolved amicably, he said.
   • The company commander ordered a withdrawal as the enemy threatened to encircle and isolate the company.
   • The transatlantic dispute over genetic engineering threatens to be much more divisive.
   • The day from about 1 p.m. was dark and wet and in fact a half hour before start, torrential rain threatened to mar the occasion.
   • Meanwhile, a dispute which threatened to cause similar disruption in Tralee has been averted.
   • The dispute threatens to spread to all hospitals nationwide where non-consultant hospital doctors work.
   • This threatens to skew the results in two directions.
   • Over all loomed the escalating costs of war that threatened to drive the nation into bankruptcy.
   • Last night they huddled together in sleeping bags as a bone-chilling wind and rain threatened to crack their resolve.
   • The dispute threatened to delay the drafting of a constitution, just three days before a deadline for it to be approved by parliament.
   • It was an overcast day, the light hidden behind grey clouds that smothered the sky and threatened to rain.
   • Regardless of which side straddles the high moral ground, the dispute is threatening to derail the country's finest ever campaign in a major football tournament.
   • By mid-2003, lack of rain threatened to push them over that edge.
   • High water boosted the salmon catch for the end of September, and although extreme wind and driving rain threatened to keep anglers at bay, some braved the conditions and got their reward.

   Synonyms

   warn of, be a warning of, give a warning of, promise, presage, augur, portend, foreshadow, prophesy, be an omen of
4. 1.4no object (of something undesirable) seem likely to occur.
   unless war threatened, national politics remained the focus of attention

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Now a war is threatening and loads of boys are packing up to get themselves a piece of the ‘glory’.
   • Rather, they might have set up production lines that can be activated if war threatens.
   • Lots of the local farmers bred horses and sold them to the Army, especially when wars threatened.
   • A trade war threatened and a giant global corporation was brought to its knees.
   • And now, just to make bad worse, another war was threatening.
   • When war threatened, von Tempsky offered his services to the Government.
   • Given his proven record in command, Franz Josef selected Benedek to command the Habsburg North Army in early 1866 when war with Prussia threatened.
   • Anzac Day became more intense in those days when war was once more threatening or had begun.
   • By 1914 and the final stages of the bill, civil war threatened in Britain and Ireland with the option of partition, temporary or permanent, as the only alternative.
   • Fearing the consequences as World War II threatened, FDR asked him to call off the march.

   Synonyms

   be likely, be likely to happen, be imminent, be at hand, be close at hand, be near, be close, be approaching, be on the horizon, be just around the corner, be brewing, be gathering, be looming, be coming, be coming soon, be coming up, be on the way, be expected, be anticipated, be in prospect, be in the wind, be in the air, be forthcoming, be impending