THREAT


Meaning of THREAT in English

noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a bomb threat (= when someone leaves a message saying there is a bomb somewhere )

He delayed his flight home because of a bomb threat.

a death threat (= a threat to kill someone deliberately )

The writer had received a number of death threats.

a health risk/hazard/threat (= something that could damage your health )

The report looked at the health risks linked to eating excess sugar.

a potential danger/threat/risk

Tired drivers are a potential danger to other road users.

a serious threat

In the developed world, over-consumption is now a serious threat to health.

a suicide threat (= when someone says that they will kill themselves )

Depression may sometimes lead to suicide threats.

credible threat/challenge/force etc

Can Thompson make a credible challenge for the party leadership?

idle threats

She was not a woman to make idle threats .

imminent danger/threat/death/disaster etc

He was in imminent danger of dying.

implicit criticism/threat/assumption

Her words contained an implicit threat.

pose a threat/danger/risk

The chemical leak poses a threat to human health.

present a threat

The disease presents a grave threat to the livestock industry.

the terrorist threat

He admitted the increased terrorist threat was causing the security forces great concern.

under threat

Two of our national parks are currently under threat from road schemes.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

big

Ashes without phoenix Whatever the president decides in June, the biggest threat to a slimmer space station will be Congress.

The latter tWo were not viewed as big threats .

Interbreeding with feral cats is probably the biggest threat to the wildcat.

Indeed, earnings worries represent the biggest threat to the bull market.

The biggest threat to standards remains the state of the economy.

What may be the biggest threat for most farmers is the length of time standing water remains on their fields.

The biggest threat to this cosy world comes from within.

Far better to spend some money exploring this new medium than to ignore the biggest competitive threat since television.

constant

The small village appears to be under constant threat of a landslide from the steep slopes immediately behind.

They lived under constant threat of exposure and extermination at the hands of the Inquisition, which monitored Christians' piety.

The immediate past and the constant threat was poverty.

Individual feelings and complexities are repressed and there is a constant threat of mutiny among family members.

He was impeccable in defence, and posed a constant threat to the Springboks' defensive wall.

They governed during the Cold War, with the constant threat of nuclear war.

Moscow did not falter under the onslaught and their counter-attacking potential was a constant threat .

The strain of working long hours under the constant threat of robbery took its toll on the family.

great

It had previously been thought that pollution posed the greatest threat to inshore marine mammals.

Newspapers are under the greatest peacetime threat to their freedom this century.

Nevertheless, its greatest threat comes not only from coal imports but from the Labour party.

Either way, it represents the greatest environmental threat the world now faces.

He said spiralling public sector borrowing was the greatest threat to a sustained economic recovery.

And this may be the greatest threat to our reserves of groundwater.

Disturbance and high tides pose the greatest threats to the breeding birds.

immediate

My tardiness prompted an immediate threat of a fine, but it never materialised.

The contamination does not pose any immediate public health threat because none of the seed has been planted.

The immediate threat to the West may be inflation; the spectre in the shadows is deflation.

The most immediate threat is to bird life.

Officials said there was no immediate threat of tsunami, a seismic ocean wave, which could be catastrophic to the area.

Although the gunman had her pinned down he wasn't her immediate threat .

The creation of States posed an immediate threat to the freedom of action of lesser rulers.

imminent

Most local papers are sympathetic to heritage stories and will give space to them, particularly if there is an imminent threat .

Detain any person who poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.

We face no imminent threat , but we do have an enemy.

major

Public sector pay and the unpredictability of pay settlements have always posed a major threat to public expenditure control.

But workers here are accustomed to lifetime employment and see the provisions as a major threat to their job security.

Leicester City are the major threat to Boro's hopes, especially after a last-kick injury-time matchwinner against Tranmere Rovers.

Losing the existing business was his major threat .

For this reason fears have been expressed that rising house prices pose a major threat to price stability generally.

The Christmas holiday, which is eight months away, will be another major threat to the system, analysts said.

Policy choices reflected what governments perceived as the major threats to the cohesion and survival of the state.

military

He further stated that the military threat from the Soviet Union was at its lowest level since 1945.

Pete Wilson successfully transformed the image of the industrious immigrant into a military threat .

We do not face outside military threats .

Second, it could prevent us from dealing expeditiously with emergencies such as natural disasters or military threats .

It would make more sense economically to bring them home, and would not create any military threat .

Each country regarded the other as a major military threat .

potential

The raven was determined to fend off any potential threat and maintain its fiefdom of Edge Wood.

And the success of actions in these circumstances would serve to reduce the potential long-term threat associated with the event.

But he did okay in our program, handling its challenges and its many potential threats .

They regarded it either as virtually impossible to implement, or as a potential threat to themselves at the elections.

Many see computers as a potential threat to their livelihood.

Recent newspaper reports have highlighted the potential threat to Britain when the Channel Tunnel links us with the Continent.

The scientists warn of the potential threat to towns, beaches, golf courses, marinas and nature reserves along the coast.

real

On form Cambridge look a real threat .

Any team capable of getting this far had to be considered a real threat .

They have no finishers or real scoring threat besides Owen Nolan, who has six goals.

Small businesspeople in particular see the growing welfare population as a real and present threat to their future.

Inflation running at 57 %, record unemployment, rampant corruption and real threats to democracy.

Somehow they were more terrible than the real threat of the oozing wounds across his back.

The real threat was more substantial, and imminent.

But Chris's smile shows he clearly doesn't see any real threat to his golden 4,000 metres record.

serious

Of these, logging poses by far the most serious threat .

In this sense, the guns have a virtually religious import, and gun restrictions pose a serious psychological threat .

Perhaps the argument that constituted the most serious threat to Copernicus was the so-called tower argument.

His testimony presented a serious political threat to the incumbents on the city council and alienated Leroy from their affections.

This search for a medical solution, then, may present a serious threat to civil liberties.

The embryonic plot appeared to have been an amateurish operation which did not pose a serious threat to the government.

Moreover, sunken waste containers could pose a serious threat over time as they begin to leak.

soviet

In 1954 Britain had fostered the Baghdad Pact to create a band of friendly pro-Western states against the Soviet threat .

The Alsops' war with Truman and Johnson centered on disagreements about the nature of the Soviet threat .

Briefly At last we've found a convenient enemy to replace the Soviet threat .

And, at bottom, what was the nature and extent of the Soviet threat and how should it be met?

There is, after all, very little risk in defying the United States now that the Soviet threat is history.

A Bevanite pamphlet appeared in July which argued - among other things - that the government was exaggerating the Soviet threat .

In his view the Soviet threat was primarily political.

■ NOUN

bomb

Pervez Musharraf, delayed his flight home because of a bomb threat .

More than 50, 000 people carrying free foam-rubber tomahawks evacuated the stadium as if there had been a bomb threat .

Many passengers switch flight after bomb threat .

Last Thursday, campus officials received a bomb threat that was sent over the university e-mail system.

Schools cancelled extracurricular activities, and many parents took their children out of classes after word of the bomb threat spread.

Last Monday, a bomb threat against the county courthouse was delivered by telephone.

It belongs to the man who called in the bomb threat 18 minutes before it detonated.

death

Employees and shareholders have also received death threats and hate mail.

Vince Tobin withdrew his candidacy for the job after both men got death threats from Ditka fanatics.

He has received death threats after cheating hundreds of innocent people.

Then came the death threats against Krueger himself, then the ambush of a convoy in which he was traveling.

Teachers supporting their local community's campaigns have also been subject to death threats .

J., was scrubbed because the promoter got death threats .

They have found themselves the targets of death threats and kidnappings as a result.

His family said he had been subjected to a campaign of racial harassment and death threats .

■ VERB

become

We human beings ourselves have become a threat to our planet.

This guy has become the offensive threat Lute and the other coaches have been talking about for the past three years.

But I can see him becoming an instant threat in the Intercontinental division.

Eventually, however, Skinner hopes to become an even bigger threat on the Cup circuit.

This becomes a threat when the information in the marketplace is about humans, and private.

It has become a pure threat signal rather than just the first stage of an attack.

At this time localism had not yet become a threat .

Current world trade agreements have become the foremost threats to democracy on earth.

carry

There was no way to prevent White from carrying out his threat of f6.

If Walden carries out his threat , the Tory government would fall, leading to a general election.

There was nothing to stop the guy carrying out his threat to put the husband wise about Laura's past.

Charles wondered if Alex Household had carried out his threat of feeding the wrong lines.

Accordingly, on Oct. 22, Bush carried out his threat to veto the bill.

Whether companies would carry out their threat to emigrate is debatable, with the huge costs that it would entail.

Maybe she ought to have carried out her threat to go to the police.

The question of whether the workers wish to co-operate becomes secondary as unwillingness carries with it the threat of losing their jobs.

counter

Both the level of available resources and their deployment are constantly adjusted as necessary to counter the foreseeable threat .

They countered the threat by inviting only safe theologians - largely Rome-based - to sit on the preparatory commissions.

Edward's first move was to counter any possible threat to Aquitaine from the south and from the sea.

face

Whalers face the threat of government reprisals should they start a commercial hunt which has been banned since 1985.

Its cold-blooded use by cops facing no threat to themselves is plainly inhumane.

We do not face outside military threats .

Augustine says some of those patients may be facing collection agency threats .

The 45 grammar schools among them face the additional threat of comprehensive reorganisation, or closure.

Offenders will then face the threat of prosecution.

If young men are estranged from the leadership of society, any society faces a threat from its young men.

issue

Yet the Mugabe government repeatedly issues public death threats against its foes.

The greater its dependence on others, the less its ability to issue credible threats or to mobilise for sustained hostilities.

It was only by issuing rather unconvincing threats of his disapproval that Peggy could keep the girl in line.

For one sweaty moment I was sure it would be Famlio, about to issue dire threats and promises.

His favourite line of attack was to start talking about finding useful employment for Vincent, and to issue veiled threats .

meet

Sandwich was better situated to meet a threat from Scandinavia.

The army sent to meet this threat was decimated at Adrianople: the road to Rome now lay open to the barbarians.

Thus the notion of security requires reformulation in terms of satisfaction of human needs: weapons can not meet the threat of starvation.

The Army wanted enough flexibility to be able to meet the Communist threat at any level.

In order to meet these threats , a warrior caste developed under the command of a chieftain or king.

The lower bird turned momentarily upside-down to meet the threat from the larger, more agile predator with its outstretched talons.

The intervention represented by the Newsboys' House, which your generosity made possible, can not suffice to meet this threat .

perceive

This was perceived as a threat to the Plantagenets in Aquitaine.

They damned the no-nonsense, authoritarian government, which peremptorily squashed even the smallest perceived threat to social peace.

Events and situations that you perceive as threats or challenges are called stressors.

And like all perceived threats , the dangers are inflated.

The children targeted were a public eyesore, nuisance, or perceived threat .

pose

He posed no threat to anyone.

In this sense, the guns have a virtually religious import, and gun restrictions pose a serious psychological threat .

However, if demand falls collective action poses less of a threat , and may even be beneficial.

Some fear that substances used in the process remain in the beans and could pose a health threat .

The embryonic plot appeared to have been an amateurish operation which did not pose a serious threat to the government.

Secondly, the packaging plastics themselves can pose a medical threat .

This still, however, posed a threat to Stanley influence.

Disturbance and high tides pose the greatest threats to the breeding birds.

present

The advance of the disease presents a grave threat to the livestock industry.

Because the early runoff of snow, heavy rains later in the year presented less threat of floods.

This search for a medical solution, then, may present a serious threat to civil liberties.

The Rams also present an inside threat with 6-2 senior Teresa James.

Despite the foundation of the small national Independent Labour Party in 1893, Labour did not appear to present an irresistible threat .

Women first are presented as bloodsucking threats , then impaled with gusto.

Surely he presented no physical threat to anyone, but it was possible that he had knowledge that was threatening.

His testimony presented a serious political threat to the incumbents on the city council and alienated Leroy from their affections.

receive

Employees and shareholders have also received death threats and hate mail.

Since Waco, agents have received so many threats that the bureau has established a computer database to track and analyze them.

He has received death threats after cheating hundreds of innocent people.

Last Thursday, campus officials received a bomb threat that was sent over the university e-mail system.

The judges have received death threats .

Capistran says his family received phone threats from authorities.

The judges have received death threats and been excoriated in the state press by Mugabe and ministers.

And some people have even received threats .

reduce

To reduce these security threats , various protection methods are used.

And the success of actions in these circumstances would serve to reduce the potential long-term threat associated with the event.

Meantime, the government is already spending less, helping to reduce the threat of inflation and lifting bonds.

That would reduce the threat not just to tigers, but also to rhinos, bears, pangolins and many others.

represent

If it is the postman, introduce them; let him know this man represents no threat .

Indeed, earnings worries represent the biggest threat to the bull market.

We are envious of others who have power because they represent a threat .

Unfriendly takeovers represent a constant threat to underperforming companies with ill prepared strategic plans.

Either way, it represents the greatest environmental threat the world now faces.

The neighbor or newcomer of a different faith or way has always represented a threat or an opportunity to those already here.

Similarly, mimicry of the expressions, stance and actions of a truly violent encounter can represent an intention or threat .

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

vain threat/promise etc

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

After the floods, contaminated water was a serious threat to public health.

Global warming poses a serious threat for the future.

He denied making threats to kill her.

He showed no sign of carrying out his threat of making them pay.

I'm prepared to listen to him, but I'm not going to respond to threats.

Immigrant families in the area have received threats from right-wing extremist groups.

It's nonsense to say that the protesters pose any threat to democratic society.

Once again the people of Sudan face the threat of famine.

She claims she received anonymous death threats after she gave evidence in the trial.

The threat of inflation and high interest rates led to a wage freeze.

the threat of invasion

The latest outbreak of the disease can be seen as the greatest threat to UK farmers yet.

The nuclear threat , while not gone completely, is reduced.

There is a threat that the violence will break out again.

Tuberculosis is a common threat when people live in crowded conditions.

Your threats don't scare me!

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

And there has emerged another threat .

Bad weather is a regular threat .

But below the mirror images of arts and architecture lurks the threat of extinction - Venice is in Peril.

The contamination does not pose any immediate public health threat because none of the seed has been planted.

There's no guarantee that whoever sent it won't follow up those written threats with actual physical violence.

These two, plus Jones, Botham and Bainbridge, will pose a strong threat to any attack.

Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary.      Дополнительный английский словарь Longman DOCE5.