threatening

verbadjectivenouncommon in dialogue

//ˈθɹɛtə.nɪŋ//
//ˈθɹɛt.nɪŋ//
//ˈθɹɛt.n̩.ɪŋ//
//ˈθɹɛʔ.n̩.ɪŋ//

Presenting a threat, posing a likely risk of harm.

verb

1
Also a form of threatenpresent participle and gerund of threaten

Etymology

From Middle English thretenyng, þreteninde, equivalent to threaten + -ing.

adjective

1
Presenting a threat, posing a likely risk of harm.
Never turn your back to someone who is displaying threatening behavior.
Fie, fie, vnknit that thretaning vnkinde brovv, / And dart not ſcornefull glances from thoſe eies, / To vvound thy Lord, thy King, thy Gouernour.
2
Making threats, making statements about a willingness to cause harm.

noun

1
An act of threatening; a threat.
And nowe lorde beholde their threatenyngꝭ / and graunte vnto thy ſervauntꝭ wyth all confydence to ſpeake thy worde.
In Mr. J. C. Hotten’s Life, and in Mr. A. W. Ward’s admirable monograph in the “English Men of Letters” Series, a paper of mine called “Pincher Astray” is attributed to Dickens.

Etymology

From Middle English thretenyng, thretnynge, þretnynge, equivalent to threaten + -ing.

Forms

plural: threatenings
comparative: more threatening
superlative: most threatening

Threat · A surname.threaten · To make a threat against someone; to use threats.threatened · At risk of becoming endangered in the near future.

threatening · Presenting a threat, posing a likely risk of harm.

three · A numerical value after two and before four. Represented in…threesome · A group of three people or things.threshold · The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.