(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If there is a ~ of something unpleasant, there is a possibility that it will happen.
There is a small ~ of brain damage from the procedure...
In all the confusion, there’s a serious ~ that the main issues will be forgotten.
N-VAR: oft N of n, N that
2.
If something that you do is a ~, it might have unpleasant or undesirable results.
You’re taking a big ~ showing this to Kravis...
N-COUNT
3.
If you say that something or someone is a ~, you mean they are likely to cause harm.
It’s being overfat that constitutes a health ~...
The restaurant has been refurbished–it was found to be a fire ~...
N-COUNT: usu with supp
4.
If you are considered a good ~, a bank or shop thinks that it is safe to lend you money or let you have goods without paying for them at the time.
Before providing the cash, they will have to decide whether you are a good or bad ~...
N-COUNT: supp N
5.
If you ~ something unpleasant, you do something which might result in that thing happening or affecting you.
Those who fail to register ~ severe penalties...
VERB: V n/-ing
6.
If you ~ doing something, you do it, even though you know that it might have undesirable consequences.
The captain was not willing to ~ taking his ship through the straits in such bad weather.
VERB: V -ing/n
7.
If you ~ your life or something else important, you behave in a way that might result in it being lost or harmed.
She ~ed her own life to help a disabled woman...
VERB: V n
8.
To be at ~ means to be in a situation where something unpleasant might happen.
Up to 25,000 jobs are still at ~...
PHRASE: v-link PHR, oft PHR of n
9.
If you do something at the ~ of something unpleasant happening, you do it even though you know that the unpleasant thing might happen as a result.
At the ~ of being repetitive, I will say again that statistics are only a guide...
PHRASE: PHR n/-ing
10.
If you tell someone that they are doing something at their own ~, you are warning them that, if they are harmed, it will be their own responsibility.
Those who wish to come here will do so at their own ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v
11.
If you run the ~ of doing or experiencing something undesirable, you do something knowing that the undesirable thing might happen as a result.
The officers had run the ~ of being dismissed...
PHRASE: V and N inflect
12.
to ~ your neck: see neck