# danger

Pronunciation: US say "DAYN-jur" /ˈdeɪn.d͡ʒɚ/; UK say "DAYN-juh" /ˈdeɪn.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/

## Noun

1. The state of being exposed to likely harm or injury.
   - Simple: Being in a place or situation where you could easily be hurt or killed.
   - _The climbers ignored the danger and pushed on toward the summit._
   - _Soldiers on the front line face constant danger for months at a time._
2. A specific thing or situation that is likely to cause harm.
   - Simple: A thing or situation that can hurt you.
   - _Smoking is a serious danger to your health._
   - _The report listed the main dangers facing low-lying coastal towns._
3. The risk that an unpleasant or undesired outcome may come about, often in the phrases danger of and danger that.
   - Simple: The chance that something bad or unwanted might happen.
   - _The company is in danger of losing its biggest customer to a cheaper rival._
   - _With rain forecast all day, there is a real danger that turnout will be low._

## Verb

4. To put someone or something at risk of harm; to endanger. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To put someone or something in harm's way.
9. To run the risk; to take one's chances despite the possibility of harm. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To take a chance and risk something bad happening.
10. To claim or accept liability for something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To take on or claim legal responsibility for something.

## Noun

5. Harm, damage, or mischief done to a person or thing. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Harm or trouble caused to someone or something.
6. A legal liability or obligation for which one is answerable. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Being responsible under the law, and open to judgment or punishment.
7. The power or dominion one person holds to harm or penalize another, as in being within someone's danger. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Power that one person held to harm or punish another.
8. Reluctance, hesitation, or sparingness in granting or bestowing something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An unwillingness to give or do something, or holding back.

## Other meanings

- (noun) On the railways, the stop indication shown by a signal, usually in the phrase "at danger".
- (noun) Someone held in contempt, especially because they are seen as perverted or mentally ill.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English daunger ('power, dominion, peril'), borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French dangier, an alteration of Old French dongier (changed partly by association with Latin damnum, 'damage'). This traces back to Vulgar Latin *dominārium ('authority, power') from Latin dominus ('lord, master'). It displaced the native Old English frēcennes.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/danger (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).