I. ˈvenchə(r) verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English venteren, by shortening & alteration from aventuren to venture — more at adventure
transitive verb
1. : to expose to risk or hazard: as
a. : to lay (as oneself) open to danger
b. : to put or send on a venture especially when involving unusual risks : gamble or speculate with : hazard
venture a ship in the coastal trade
ventured more than he could afford on speculative stocks
2.
a. : to face or undertake the risks and dangers of : dare to encounter, undertake, or embark on : brave
a band of Puritans … ventured in 1620 a settlement at Plymouth — Stringfellow Barr
unwilling to venture the elements in such a storm
b. archaic : to risk giving one's confidence to : rely on : trust
3. : to dare or have the courage or boldness to advance, offer, or put forward especially when rebuff, rejection, or censure seems likely to ensue
ventured a hint of doubt — H.J.Laski
upon the irresponsible taxation he does venture to speak plainly — G.G.Coulton
I venture to say that 5000 people were present
intransitive verb
: to proceed accepting risks : go ahead with something uncertain or risky despite danger and trepidation : dare or show the courage to go
explorers by sea, venturing uneasily northward along the shores in pygmy galleons — American Guide Series: California
strikebreakers were compelled to remain in the shops for weeks before venturing to their homes — American Guide Series: Delaware
too old to venture on a new way of life
Synonyms:
hazard , risk , chance , endanger , imperil , jeopardize : venture indicates an exposing to risk of losing in speculation, gambling, or other matters of chance either boldly or timorously
venture one's capital
and it may suggest a proceeding that calls for caution or an offering liable to rejection or contradiction
hazardous to approach too near to the snow or venture beneath it — American Guide Series: New Hampshire
I venture to predict — F.D.Roosevelt
hazard may occasionally more strongly suggest utter chance, as of the turn of a card or spin of a wheel, as a determining factor, and consequently suggest more uncertainty and less calculation than venture
able young men have been willing to hazard their chances of professional advancement in order to engage in academic experiments — G.F.Whicher
risk may stress the fact of danger of loss, damage, or defeat without undue implication of reasons, motives, degrees of danger
Poland did not hesitate … to risk all the progress she had made — Sir Winston Churchill
not risking a landing because of the fierce aspect of the natives — V.G.Heiser
chance may suggest more inclination to trust to luck and less considering or reckoning. endanger , imperil , and jeopardize heighten notions of exposure to danger. imperil may occasionally suggest exposure to greater or inseparable danger and may be preferred in figurative uses
floods endangering the building in 1866, Fort Lyon was moved up the river — L.R.Hafen
kings in Europe were sometimes shot at by passersby, there being hardly a monarch who had not been so imperiled — G.B.Shaw
jeopardize may be somewhat stronger and imply even chances of success or failure, preservation or loss, or suggest greater imminence of danger or inexorability of decision
to settle for merely another temporary respite would surely jeopardize the future security of all the world — H.S.Truman
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, short for aventure adventure — more at adventure
1. obsolete : fortune , hap , contingency ; also : peril , jeopardy
2.
a. : an undertaking involving chance, risk, or danger : an undertaking of uncertain outcome or unforeseen conditions ; especially : a business enterprise of speculative nature : speculation
a trading venture
took a venture in oil
b. : an act of venturing (as in speech or action) : venturesome conduct
his venture into honest living
this venture in plain speaking cost us dear
c. : an entire voyage (as of a trading ship) from home port to home port
3. : something at hazard in a speculative venture (as of trade by sea)
lost his first venture in the China trade
usually : the property, money, or other thing of value that is risked in a business enterprise or speculation
my ventures are not in one bottom trusted — Shakespeare
4. dialect Britain : an adventurous spirit : a willingness to take risks or run dangers : courage
what in the world wide put venture into you that made you go face the dog — Augusta Gregory
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- at a venture