How to Use threaten in a Sentence

threaten

verb
Definition of threatennext
Synonyms for threatennext
  • She threatened to quit if they didn't give her a raise, but no one believed her.
  • Overfishing threatens the survival of certain fish species.
  • Later in the episode, Spears got emotional again and threatened to quit the show.
    — Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 22 Nov. 2023
  • The woman said Marchetti killed her dog and threatened to kill her next.
    — Rey Covarrubias Jr., The Arizona Republic, 21 June 2024
  • When a guard threatened to shoot, the group backed off and Ms. Stafford felt her resolve deflate.
    — Lynsey Chutel Gulshan Khan, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2023
  • But there are some risks that threaten De Haan’s outlook.
    — Krystal Hur, CNN, 28 May 2023
  • That sounds like a lot, but the sum so far has not appeared to threaten U.S. economic growth.
    — Fatima Hussein, Fortune, 3 Jan. 2024
  • Then there is the island itself, shaped by the seasons and threatened by the hostile nature.
    — Annika Pham, Variety, 13 Nov. 2023
  • When disaster threatens, her new friends — a pile of rocks, a rabbit, a cactus, the motel desk clerks— save the day.
    — Staff Author, Peoplemag, 26 Sep. 2023
  • Basha threatened to open things in the bottom of the fifth inning after Aniyah Jaiman’s base hit drove in Garcia, giving the Bears a 3-0 lead.
    — Ben Stapley, The Arizona Republic, 16 May 2023
  • Evers threatened to veto the entire budget over the DEI cuts.
    — The Editors, National Review, 18 Dec. 2023
  • Right to Life group revoked its endorsement of him and threatened to do the same to any lawmaker who backed his bill.
    — Kate Zernike, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2023
  • This morning the war threatens to expand as Israel exchanged strikes with Hezbollah in the north.
    — Nbc Universal, NBC News, 8 Oct. 2023
  • The Huskies threatened to finish with more offensive rebounds than the Aztecs had in total.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Mar. 2024
  • When a bird flu epidemic starts threatening the farm, they are forced to rise above conflict and heal old wounds.
    — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 30 Oct. 2023
  • The bandits threatened that if players were hiding money, their legs would be blown off.
    — Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, 16 May 2023
  • Ukraine's neighbors will be threatened, all of Europe will be threatened.
    — Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 6 June 2024
  • Police said Bell threatened the guard’s life if the tellers didn’t open the security door.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Unexpectedly, the two fall in love and elope — but the fairytale is threatened when Vanya’s parents find out.
    — Ellise Shafer, Variety, 15 July 2024
  • Her son and his fiancée, who had been scheduled to testify in a murder trial, were threatened by the suspects and killed in 2005.
    — Audra D. S. Burch, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2023
  • During the hostage ordeal, Hamas threatened to kill the captives one by one and film the executions if their demands were not met.
    — Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2023
  • Draymond Green’s punch of Jordan Poole threatened the very fabric of the Warriors culture.
    — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 May 2023
  • The Raiders’ three-run lead was threatened as pitcher Luke Reasbeck gave up a single, a walk and threw a wild pitch, to put runners on second and third with one out.
    — Ryan McFadden, The Denver Post, 25 May 2024
  • Strong currents and large debris can threaten the safety of pleasure craft during high flows, the agency said in the release.
    — The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, arkansasonline.com, 15 Mar. 2024
  • The man was found to be wearing a fake police badge and had apparently sent hundreds of emails threatening Kennedy.
    — Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Jan. 2024
  • But the onset of climate change threatens this brotherhood, which is why Lekuuk has broken away to attend school.
    — Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 15 May 2024
  • There are people whose lives are unaffected by brutal heat, and those whose lives are threatened by it.
    — Ari Plachta, Sacramento Bee, 3 July 2024
  • People are threatening him on the internet, and everyone knows where this house is thanks to the news coverage.
    — Christina Coulter, Fox News, 28 Jan. 2024
  • Over 1,200 major western companies pulled out of Russia over Putin's bloody invasion of Ukraine, which threatened sovereign stability and the rule of law.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Stephen Henriques, TIME, 16 July 2024
  • Intense heat wave threatens East Coast Meanwhile, scorching heat continued for the third week this month as more than 126 million people remained under heat alerts across the country on Tuesday, according to heat.gov.
    — Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY, 17 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'threaten.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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