danger

1 of 2

noun

dan·​ger ˈdān-jər 

1

: exposure or liability to injury, pain, harm, or loss

a place where children could play without danger

was assured her job was not in danger

2

: a case or cause of danger

the dangers of mining

3

a

archaic : jurisdiction

You stand within his danger, do you not?

—Shakespeare

b

obsolete : reach, range

… out of the shot and danger of desire.

—Shakespeare

4

obsolete : harm, damage

… a sting in him that at his will he may do danger with.

—Shakespeare

danger

2 of 2

verb

dangered; dangering; dangers

transitive verb

archaic

: endanger

Synonyms

Noun

• risk
• jeopardy
• trouble

Examples of danger in a Sentence

Noun

I was unaware of the danger that lay ahead.

She was fearless in the face of danger.

The sign on the door read “Danger. Keep out.”

There's less danger that you'll lose your money if you have a wide variety of investments.

There's a danger that your apology will be taken as a sign of weakness.

The danger is that we'll become careless as the process becomes more familiar.

It's important to teach your children about the dangers of smoking.

Here is a list of possible dangers associated with the procedure.

We believe it poses a serious danger to our national security.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But even if the out-of-towners from Austin, Dallas, and beyond in the campgrounds along the river did receive these alerts on their phones, how many of them would have fully grasped the danger? —John Seabrook, New Yorker, 21 July 2025

And a report released Thursday by Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, looking at the dangers of fragrances specifically, found that over 98% of fragrance chemicals either lack basic safety data or are classified as high or potentially high concern by scientific authorities. —Rachel Treisman, NPR, 21 July 2025

Verb

Google Maps The river has been taking lives and flooding homes for a century, and for nearly as long, authorities have discussed how best to monitor the flow and alert people to danger. —Colleen Long, NBC news, 12 July 2025

These protections are in place to prevent deportations from returning individuals to danger. —Andy J. Semotiuk, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English daunger, from Anglo-French dangier, dongier, from Vulgar Latin *dominiarium, from Latin dominium ownership

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing danger

• danger money
• danger pay
• in danger
• out of danger

Rhymes for danger

• changer
• manger
• ranger
• stranger
• arranger
• endanger
• exchanger

Kids Definition

danger

noun

dan·​ger

ˈdān-jər

1

: the state of not being protected from injury, harm, or evil

2

: something that may cause injury or harm

the dangers of the jungle