Threatened ˈθretn Threatening Threaten Gun Verb Bre Broke

• they broke my windows and threatened me.
• the attacker threatened them with a gun.
• he was threatened with dismissal if he continued to turn up late for work.
• the threatened strike has been called off.

threaten

1. to say that you will cause trouble, hurt somebody, etc. if you do not get what you want
• They broke my windows and threatened me.
• The attacker threatened them with a gun.
• He was threatened with dismissal if he continued to turn up late for work.
• The threatened strike has been called off.
• The hijackers threatened to kill one passenger every hour if their demands were not met.
• They threatened that passengers would be killed.
2. to seem likely to happen or cause something unpleasant
• A storm was threatening.
• When war threatens, people act irrationally.
• This dispute threatens to split the party.
• The clouds threatened rain.
3. to be a danger to something
• synonym endanger
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/endanger
• Pollution is threatening marine life.

Extra Examples

• I never felt threatened by him.
• Many species are now threatened with extinction.
• Our marriage was constantly threatened by his other women.
• Our way of life is gravely threatened.
• She had repeatedly threatened to commit suicide.
• She threatened him with a gun.
• social unrest which seriously threatens the stability of the whole area
• Did he ever say anything to suggest that he felt threatened, or that his life was in danger?
• Pollution along the coastline is threatening marine life.
• She claimed that the conflict was threatening stability in the region.
• The hijackers threatened to kill the passengers if their demands were not met.
• The union threatened that unless the new rules were withdrawn, they would call a strike.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they threaten
• he / she / it threatens
• past simple threatened
• past participle threatened
• -ing form threatening

Word Origin

• Old English thrēatnian ‘urge or induce, especially by using threats’, from thrēat ‘oppression’, of Germanic origin.