from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To express a threat against.
- transitive v. To be a source of danger to; menace.
- transitive v. To give signs or warning of; portend.
- transitive v. To announce the possibility of in a threat.
- intransitive v. To express or use threats.
- intransitive v. To indicate danger or harm.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- v. To make a threat against someone; to use threats.
- v. To menace, or be dangerous.
- v. To portend, or give a warning.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- intransitive v. To use threats, or menaces; also, to have a threatening appearance.
- transitive v. To utter threats against; to menace; to inspire with apprehension; to alarm, or attempt to alarm, as with the promise of something evil or disagreeable; to warn.
- transitive v. To exhibit the appearance of (something evil or unpleasant) as approaching; to indicate as impending; to announce the conditional infliction of.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To use threats or menaces; have a menacing aspect.
- To give indication of menace, or of impending danger or mischief; become overcast, as the sky.
- To declare an intention of doing mischief to or of bringing evil on: use threats toward; menace; terrify, or attempt to terrify, by menaces: with with before the evil threatened.
- To charge or enjoin solemnly or with menace.
- To be a menace or source of danger to.
- To give ominous indication of; presage; portend: as, the clouds threaten rain or a storm.
- To announce or hold out as a penalty or punishment: often followed by an infinitive clause.
- Synonyms Menace, Threaten (see menace), forebode, foreshadow.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. to be a menacing indication of something:
- v. pose a threat to; present a danger to
- v. to utter intentions of injury or punishment against:
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What’s puzzled me for the last several years is, why does Norman Ornstein threaten his otherwise excellent reputation by working for an intellectual chop shop?