imperil

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verb im·per·il \im-ˈper-əl, -ˈpe-rəl\

Definition of imperil

imperiled

imperilled

;

imperiling

imperilling

transitive verb
: to bring into peril : endanger

imperilment

play \im-ˈper-əl-mənt, -ˈpe-rəl-\ noun

See imperil defined for English-language learners

See imperil defined for kids

Examples of imperil in a Sentence

The toxic fumes imperiled the lives of the trapped miners.
The financial health of the company was imperiled by a string of bad investments.
a list of imperiled species

Recent Examples of imperil from the Web

But for now, the uncertainty continues to imperil both the Affordable Care Act and the politicians who could be held accountable for any failure.

— carl hulse, New York Times, "Obama Unwittingly Handed Trump a Weapon to Cripple the Health Law", 3 June 2017
Such perceptions are one reason why publicly confronting Trump over his policies -- as Merkel has also done in recent days -- may backfire and further imperil the transatlantic alliance which is vital to French and German security.

— stephen collinson, CNN, "Emmanuel Macron is getting in Donald Trump's face", 2 June 2017
Exiting #ParisAgreement imperils US security and our ability to own the clean energy future —

— hilary lewis, The Hollywood Reporter, "Stars, Politicians Respond to Trump Plan to Withdraw U.S. from Paris Climate Agreement", 1 June 2017
Congress also faces an increasing number of legislative distractions that could further imperil Trump’s agenda.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: The GOP's invisible agenda", 31 May 2017
Medical-device companies like Medtronic Inc. argued that allowing the reuse of devices like cardiac catheters could imperil patients and expose the original manufacturers to lawsuits.

— greg stohr, Bloomberg.com, "U.S. Supreme Court Curbs Patent-Holder Power to Block Resale", 30 May 2017
But as National Review’s Andrew McCarthy points out, Kushner’s status as the crab closest to the top of the bucket is at the very least much imperiled by the revelation of his missteps with Kremlin communications.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Whom will Trump trust?", 30 May 2017
When a flower starts growing inside her lung, imperiling her life, Colin must find a magical cure.

— susan dunne, courant.com, "Romantic 'Mood Indigo' At Atheneum", 26 May 2017
Shareholders of these companies have a responsibility to redirect their assets to energy solutions that do not imperil the planet's survival.

— wired staff, WIRED, "Rants", 23 Oct. 2007

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

15th Century