hazard

play

noun haz·ard \ ˈha-zərd \

Definition of hazard

1 :a game of chance like craps played with two dice

2 :a source of danger

hazards on the roadway

3 a :the effect of unpredictable and unanalyzable forces in determining events :chance, risk

the hazards involved in owning your own business

men and women danced together, women danced together, men danced together, as hazard had brought them together
—Charles Dickens

b :a chance event :accident

looked like a fugitive, who had escaped from something in clothes caught up at hazard
—Willa Cather

4 obsolete :stake 3a

5 :a golf-course obstacle (such as a bunker or a pond)

— at hazard

:at stake

See hazard defined for English-language learners

See hazard defined for kids

Examples of hazard in a Sentence

the tumbledown old barn was considered a fire hazard
it was only by hazard and good fortune that we found our way back to the trail

Recent Examples of hazard from the Web

The idea was that the latter did not represent the political and moral hazards of apartheid, but a more distant and more complicated period of South African history.

— carolyn e. holmes, Washington Post, "Should Confederate monuments come down? Here’s what South Africa did after apartheid.," 29 Aug. 2017
That is the job of Elliott Jacks, who delves into the semantics of weather as the head of a National Weather Service project to simplify the language its forecasters use to describe hazards.

— christine hauser, New York Times, "As Harvey Raged, Meteorologists Grasped for Words to Describe It," 29 Aug. 2017
Water infiltration, mold, asbestos and lead paint have caused environmental hazards that would be too costly to repair, Avram's supporters said.

— erin hegarty, Naperville Sun, "Historic Preservation Commission recommends landmark status for old Nichols Library," 23 Aug. 2017
A leaking MoCA signal could be a cybersecurity hazard, experts say.

— keri wiginton, chicagotribune.com, "How this $10 device protects your network from hackers," 22 Aug. 2017
The most harmful pesticides are in Tier 1, and include those determined to be likely carcinogens, endocrine disrupters or a hazard to birds, fish or bees.

— maya sweedler, The Seattle Times, "Seattle’s pesticide phaseout lags: Potentially harmful products used in parks," 27 July 2017
Such are the hazards of heading the elite counter-terror force in a steamy metropolis of 20m with a reputation as the most dangerous city in Asia.

— The Economist, "The pushmi-pullyuWhat makes Pakistan so unfathomable," 22 July 2017
Or is your hairbrush strictly hands-off with a hazard sign flashing over it?

— fresh u, Teen Vogue, "7 Questions to Ask Your Potential Roommates," 18 July 2017
Two groups of geese were walking on Route 24 between Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and Festival shopping center Tuesday, causing a hazard.

— The Aegis, "Police blotter: From Aberdeen to Fallston to Street," 14 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hazard.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

At first hazard was a game of chance played with dice. The English word comes from medieval French, in which the game was called hasard. This French word was probably borrowed from Arabic az-zahr, meaning “the dice” or “one of the dice.” The game was borrowed from the French by the English, and within a few centuries what had been a chance taken on the outcome of a throw of the dice could be any venture or risk. Now “chance” or “venture” and “risk” or “peril” are the usual meanings of hazard. The verb hazard emerged in the 16th century.

Origin and Etymology of hazard

Middle English, from Anglo-French hasard, from Old Spanish azar, from Arabic al-zahr the die

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

hazard Synonyms

Synonyms

danger, imminence, menace, peril, pitfall, risk, threat, trouble

Related Words

snare, trap; booby trap

Near Antonyms

guard, protection, safeguard, shield, ward; asylum, harbor, haven, refuge, retreat, shelter

hazard

verb

Definition of hazard

transitive verb

:to offer or present at a risk :venture

hazard a guess as to the outcome

See hazard defined for English-language learners

Examples of hazard in a Sentence

His friend asked him to hazard a small sum in a business venture.
just so the tourists could see the sea lions up close, the captain needlessly hazarded his ship

Recent Examples of hazard from the Web

As Delevingne's crop continues to inch out, the opportunities for more head-turning hair transformations will no doubt increase exponentially, but hazarding a guess at her forthcoming styling strategies may be futile.

— calin van paris, Vogue, "Cara Delevingne Puts a Punk Twist on the Pixie Cut at London Heathrow," 21 Aug. 2017
But will pitchers overexert themselves to keep their fastballs at 95 when a lower height drops their fastball to 92? Don’t hazard a guess, Fleisig says.

— ray glier, USA TODAY, "Science of baseball evolving: Help pitchers avoid injuries," 13 June 2017
Nor were Boeing, Raytheon, or Lockheed Martin even willing to hazard a guess as to the number of jobs Trump’s Riyadh proposals might actually create, when asked by The Washington Post.

— evan hill, The Atlantic, "The Dangers of Arming Autocrats," 13 June 2017
Government agencies, including the FBI, CIA, and NSA, declined to hazard a guess, or, indeed, to offer any comment at all.

— Popular Mechanics, "How Many Spies Are Currently Living in the U.S.?," 14 May 2017
Scientists can’t hazard a guess at how many rats there are because their numbers fluctuate wildly.

— Washington Post, "New Zealand’s ambitious plan to save birds: Kill every rat," 11 May 2017

Origin and Etymology of hazard

see ¹hazard

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1530

See Words from the same year

hazard Synonyms

Synonyms

adventure, compromise, gamble (with), endanger, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, menace, peril, risk, venture

Related Words

intimidate, threaten; expose; subject; chance, wager

Near Antonyms

guard, protect, shelter, shield; preserve, resume, save

HAZARD Defined for English Language Learners

hazard

play

noun

Definition of hazard for English Language Learners

: a source of danger
golf : something on a golf course (such as a pond or an area of sand) that makes hitting the ball into the hole more difficult

hazard

verb

Definition of hazard for English Language Learners

: to risk losing (something, such as money) in an attempt to get, win, or achieve something
: to offer (something, such as a guess or an opinion) even though you may be wrong

HAZARD Defined for Kids

hazard

play

noun haz·ard \ ˈha-zərd \

Definition of hazard for Students

:a source of danger

a fire hazard

History for hazard

English hazard was originally the name of a game of chance played with dice. The English word was taken from a medieval French word hasard, which in turn came by way of Spanish from an Arabic phrase az zahr, “the die” (that is, “one of the dice”).