imperil

verb im·per·il \ im-ˈper-əl , -ˈpe-rəl \

|Updated on: 19 Jun 2018

Examples: imperil in a Sentence

Definition of imperil

imperiled or imperilled; imperiling or imperilling

transitive verb

: to bring into peril : endanger

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imperilment

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

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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

Such delicate skeletons are more apt to crumble under a storm surge or the crashing of waves—and in turn, that crumbling can imperil other life on the reef, including algae that grow food for corals and fish that depend on corals for sustenance.

— elizabeth svoboda, Scientific American, "Cores from Coral Reefs Hold Secrets of the Seas’ Past and Future," 6 June 2018
But the other part of the story was that women who were imperiled decided to take matters into their own hands.

— aimee levitt, Chicago Reader, "Archive Dive / Gender Issues / News / Shots Fired When a gun was considered a girl’s best fashion accessory," 10 May 2018
The Commerce Department on Wednesday initiated a probe under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act to decide if auto imports imperil national security.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Trump’s Trade Confusion," 24 May 2018
The filing is the first public indication that the indictments could imperil Schlitterbahn's business in Kansas City, Kan., if not the entire company itself.

— steve vockrodt, kansascity, "Schlitterbahn mortgage lender fears Verruckt indictments could endanger repayment | The Kansas City Star," 10 Apr. 2018
Whether the new rule will actually imperil Romney and others, though, is not yet clear.

— benjamin hart, Daily Intelligencer, "Utah GOP Passes New Rule That Could Eject Romney From Ballot," 26 Feb. 2018
According to the Post, DOJ and intelligence agency leaders warn that publicly identifying the confidential source would imperil operations and endanger lives.

— CBS News, "Trump promotes claim of a "spy" in the campaign, that DOJ is "out to frame" him," 18 May 2018
VCs fear that efforts to keep American inventions out of foreign governments' hands will imperil their businesses.

— david mclaughlin, latimes.com, "Venture capitalists fret over U.S. bill targeting Chinese investors," 16 May 2018
But for management, peer pressure can lead to bad ideas going unchallenged as people fear that disagreement could imperil their jobs.

— philip delves broughton, WSJ, "‘In Defense of Troublemakers’ Review: Rocking the Boat," 9 May 2018

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.