Dan·ger n.
1. Authority; jurisdiction; control. [Obs.]
In dangerhad he . . . the young girls. --Chaucer.
2. Power to harm; subjection or liability to penalty. [Obs.] See In one's danger, below.
You stand within his danger, do you not? --Shak.
Covetousness of gains hath brought [them] in dangerof this statute. --Robynson (More's Utopia).
3. Exposure to injury, loss, pain, or other evil; peril; risk; insecurity.
4. Difficulty; sparingness. [Obs.]
5. Coyness; disdainful behavior. [Obs.]
In one's danger, in one's power; liable to a penalty to be inflicted by him. [Obs.] This sense is retained in the proverb, “Out of debt out of danger.”
Those rich man in whose debt and danger they be not. --Robynson (More's Utopia).
-- To do danger, to cause danger. [Obs.]
Syn: -- Peril; hazard; risk; jeopardy.
Usage: -- Danger, Peril, Hazard, Risk, Jeopardy. Danger is the generic term, and implies some contingent evil in prospect. Peril is instant or impending danger; as, in peril of one's life. Hazard arises from something fortuitous or beyond our control; as, the hazard of the seas. Risk is doubtful or uncertain danger, often incurred voluntarily; as, to risk an engagement. Jeopardy is extreme danger. Danger of a contagious disease; the perils of shipwreck; the hazards of speculation; the risk of daring enterprises; a life brought into jeopardy.