noun
Meaning 1
A situation of serious and immediate danger.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- Your life is in peril.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
peril
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈpɛɹɪl/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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/ˈpɛɹəl/ weak vowel merger
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rhymes with -ɛɹɪl
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rhymes with -ɛɹəl
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CMU ARPABET: P EH1 R AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Something that causes, contains, or presents danger.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- the perils of the jungle (animals and insects, weather, etc.)
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
An event which causes a loss, or the risk of a specific such event.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: business, insurance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To cause to be in danger; to imperil; to risk.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he saw the rewards but not the risks of crime
- there was a danger he would do the wrong thing
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: risk, danger
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: venture
Narrower terms: chance, crapshoot, gamble
noun
Meaning 6
a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- drinking alcohol is a health hazard
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hazard, jeopardy, risk, endangerment
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: danger
Narrower terms: health hazard, moral hazard, occupational hazard, sword of Damocles
noun
Meaning 7
a state of danger involving risk
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: riskiness
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: danger
Narrower terms: speculativeness
verb
Meaning 8
put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: queer, expose, scupper, endanger
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: affect, impact, bear upon, bear on, touch on, touch
Narrower terms: compromise
verb
Meaning 9
pose a threat to; present a danger to
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The pollution is endangering the crops
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: endanger, jeopardize, jeopardise, menace, threaten, imperil
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: exist, be
History
Etymology
From Middle English peril, from Old French peril, from Latin perīculum. Doublet of periculum.
Across languages
Translations
66 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: gevaar — a situation of serious danger
- Arabic: خَطَر (ḵaṭar) — a situation of serious danger
- Arabic: خطر (ḵaṭar) — a situation of serious danger
- Armenian: վտանգ (vtang) — a situation of serious danger
- Bulgarian: опасност (opasnost) — a situation of serious danger
- Catalan: perill — a situation of serious danger
- Chinese Mandarin: 危險 /危险 (wéixiǎn) — a situation of serious danger
- Czech: nebezpečí — a situation of serious danger
- Danish: fare — a situation of serious danger
- Dutch: gevaar — a situation of serious danger
- Esperanto: danĝero — a situation of serious danger
- Finnish: vaara — a situation of serious danger
- Finnish: vaaratilanne — a situation of serious danger
- French: péril — a situation of serious danger
- French: risque — a situation of serious danger
- German: Gefahr — a situation of serious danger
- German: Risiko — a situation of serious danger
- Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐌴𐌹 (bireikei) — a situation of serious danger
- Gothic: 𐍃𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌴𐌹 (sleiþei) — a situation of serious danger
- Ancient Greek: κίνδυνος (kíndunos) — a situation of serious danger
- Hungarian: veszély — a situation of serious danger
- Hungarian: veszedelem — a situation of serious danger
- Italian: periglio — a situation of serious danger
- Italian: pericolo — a situation of serious danger
- Japanese: 危険 (kiken) — a situation of serious danger
- Latin: periculum — a situation of serious danger
- Norwegian Bokmål: fare — a situation of serious danger
- Plautdietsch: Jefoa — a situation of serious danger
- Polish: niebezpieczeństwo — a situation of serious danger
- Portuguese: perigo — a situation of serious danger
- Romanian: pericol — a situation of serious danger
- Russian: опа́сность (opásnostʹ) — a situation of serious danger
- Russian: риск (risk) — a situation of serious danger
- Russian: угро́за (ugróza) — a situation of serious danger
- Scottish Gaelic: cunnart — a situation of serious danger
- Scottish Gaelic: gàbhadh — a situation of serious danger
- Spanish: peligro — a situation of serious danger
- Swedish: fara — a situation of serious danger
- Tocharian A: sanu — a situation of serious danger
- Tocharian B: ñyātse — a situation of serious danger
- Turkish: tehlike — a situation of serious danger
- Ottoman Turkish: قورقو (korku) — a situation of serious danger
- Ottoman Turkish: تهلكه (tehlike) — a situation of serious danger
- Zazaki: risk — a situation of serious danger
- Zazaki: riziko — a situation of serious danger
- Armenian: վտանգ (vtang) — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Bulgarian: риск (risk) — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Chinese Mandarin: 冒險 /冒险 (màoxiǎn) — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Czech: ohrožení — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Czech: nebezpečí — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Danish: risiko — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Finnish: vaara — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- French: risque — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- German: Risiko — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Hungarian: veszély — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Japanese: 冒険 (bōken) — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Plautdietsch: Jefoa — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Polish: zagrożenie — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Portuguese: risco — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Portuguese: perigo — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Russian: опа́сность (opásnostʹ) — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Russian: угро́за (ugróza) — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Scottish Gaelic: cunnart — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Scottish Gaelic: gàbhadh — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Spanish: peligro — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
- Tocharian A: sanu — something that causes, contains, or presents danger
Real reading context