peril

1 of 2

noun

per·​il ˈper-əl How to pronounce peril (audio)
ˈpe-rəl
1
: exposure to the risk of being injured, destroyed, or lost : danger
fire put the city in peril
2
: something that imperils or endangers : risk
lessen the perils of the streets

peril

2 of 2

verb

per·​il ˈper-əl How to pronounce peril (audio)
ˈpe-rəl
periled also perilled; periling also perilling

transitive verb

: to expose to danger

Examples of peril in a Sentence

Noun Just last week he issued a statement encouraging all Iraqis to participate in the election scheduled for January, and he called on the Iraqi government to start registering voters. The powers that be in Iraq ignore him at their peril. Johanna McGeary, Time, 25 Oct. 2004
One lesson of both the law-school and the Paulin controversies may be the peril of making free-speech judgments at Internet speed. Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2003
The old man rose and towered over Cameron, and then plunged down upon him, and clutched at his throat with terrible stifling hands. The harsh contact, the pain awakened Cameron to his peril before it was too late. Zane Grey, Desert Gold, 1913
People are unaware of the peril these miners face each day. She described global warming as “a growing peril.” Verb … she did more harm than all Frederick's diplomacy could repair, and perilled her chance of her inheritance like a giddy heedless creature as she was. William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, 1848
a tribute to the men and women who, as firefighters, peril their lives daily See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
He’s sat with multiple heads of state to discuss AI’s potential and perils. Matt O'Brien, Fortune, 18 Nov. 2023 Her friends, likewise, discover that however snooty American old money might be (as seen concurrently on the second season of HBO’s The Gilded Age), the pretensions and perils of the British upper class are on another level entirely. Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Nov. 2023 Criminal-defense attorneys advise their clients not to testify because of the perils of cross-examination. WSJ, 26 Oct. 2023 Two authors doing pioneering research into the perils and possibilities of artificial intelligence will join the L.A. Times Book Club on Tuesday night. Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 2023 On Season 2, the vast metaphysical bureaucracy of the Time Variance Authority — which Loki has come to think of as his second home — becomes catastrophically overburdened by the multiverse, placing everyone Loki has come to hold dear in existential peril. Adam B. Vary, Variety, 13 Nov. 2023 Some of the paintings are large, and even the smaller ones amplify simple stalks and roots into parables of ecological peril and promise. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2023 Here, design pros weigh in on the pleasures and perils of having your own upholstered cave. Molly Collett, WSJ, 27 Oct. 2023 The United States has performed poorly in this regard—a deficiency that is a symptom of its domestic politics rather than of the perils of globalized trade. Ryan Hass, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2023
Verb
Running time: 1 hours 56 minute | Rating: PG, for dark thematic material, violence, peril, some rude humor and brief smoking. Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2023 But peril still awaits. Laura Kingstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2023 Our moment is full of promise and also peril. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker, 6 Aug. 2021 Biden is no stranger to peril. David Harsanyi, National Review, 18 Sep. 2020 That approach, unvetted, could lead you to peril. Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, 10 Sep. 2020 That sense of purpose turned to peril in 2016 when the Taliban threatened him with death, accusing him of spying against them in a letter bearing their military insignia. Dallas News, 14 Mar. 2022 There is beauty, though indeed also peril, in our changing seasons. cleveland, 23 Dec. 2022 But wandering in those spacious landscapes can also lead to peril. Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'peril.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French, going back to Latin perīculum "test, trial, risk, danger," going back to *perei-tlom, from *perei- (of uncertain origin) + *-tlom, instrumental suffix (going back to Indo-European)

Note: Latin perīculum has traditionally been explained as a derivative from a proposed Indo-European verbal base *per- "test, risk," seen also in perītus "practiced, experienced," experior, experīrī "to put to the test, attempt, have experience of, undergo" (see experience entry 1) and opperior, opperīrī "to wait, wait for"; these have been compared with Greek peîra "trial, attempt, experience," peiráomai, peirâsthai "to make a trial of, attempt," émpeiros "experienced" (see empiric)—going back to *per-i̯a—and more tentatively with Germanic *fērō "pursuit, danger" (see fear entry 2). This *per- "test, risk" is then taken further as a semantic derivative of *per- "cross, pass" (see fare entry 1). Alternatively, if the formative -i- represents the Indo-European present-tense suffix *-ei̯-/-i-, Latin peri-/perī- in these words fits naturally with Indo-European *perh3-/pr̥h3- "bring forth, give rise to, produce" (if taken as a middle verb "give rise to within oneself, experience, undergo"), with *pr̥h3-i- yielding Latin pariō, parere "to give birth to" (see parturient entry 1) and *perh3-ei̯- yielding the per-ī- of perīculum, etc. It is unclear if the base of experior and opperior contains par- or per-, as the simplex verb is not attested. (Cf. Michiel de Vaan, "PIE i-presents, s-presents, and their reflexes in Latin," Glotta, Band 87 [2011], pp. 23-36.)

Verb

derivative of peril entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1567, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of peril was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near peril

Cite this Entry

“Peril.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peril. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.

Kids Definition

peril

noun
per·​il
ˈper-əl
1
: the state of being in danger of injury, loss, or destruction
2
: something that presents immediate danger
perils of the highway

Legal Definition

peril

noun
per·​il ˈper-əl How to pronounce peril (audio)
1
: exposure to the risk of death, destruction, or loss
2
: the cause of a loss (as of property)
insured their home against fire, floods, and other perils
compare risk

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