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menace definition

men·ace (men′əs)

noun

  1. a threat or the act of threatening
  2. anything threatening harm or evil
  3. Informal a person who is a nuisance

Etymology: OFr < L minacia < minax (gen. minacis), projecting, threatening < minari, to threaten < minae, threats, orig. projecting points of walls < IE base *men-, to project > Cornish meneth, mountain

transitive verb, intransitive verb menaced -·aced, menacing -·ac·ing

to threaten or be a danger (to)

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

menace Synonyms

menace

n.

  1. A threat

    caution, intimidation, foretelling; see warning.

  2. An imminent danger

    hazard, peril, threat; see danger.


menace

v.

threaten, intimidate, portend, loom; see threaten 2. See syn. study at threaten.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

menace Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • bus: Here are some of my latest articles: The menace of bendy busses Should speed limits be reduced?

Converse of object

  • brood: I guess there must have been an atmosphere of brooding menace, or something.

Adjective modifier

  • phantom: May 2001: " Phantom Menace " Wandsworth Guardian.

Noun used with modifier

  • U-boat: Churchill set up a Battle of the Atlantic committee to look for answers to the U-boat menace.
menace usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

menace quotes

   We shall never sheath the sword which we have not lightly drawn until Belgium recovers in full measure all and more than all that she has sacrificed, until France is adequatelyassured against the menace of aggression, until the rights of the smaller nationalities of Europe are placed upon an unassailable foundation and until the military domination of Prussia is wholly and finally destroyed.

-Asquith

Bath twice a day to be really clean, once a day to be passably clean, once a week to avoid being a public menace.

-Wilson

In our lore, the Jewish family was an inviolate haven against every formof menace, frompersonal isolationto gentile hostility. Regardless of internal friction and strife, it was assumed to be an indissoluble consolidation† Family indivisibility, the first commandment.

-Roth, Philip Milton

menace quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"menace." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 3 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/menace>

APA Style

menace. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 3rd, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/menace

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