▪ I. menace, n. Now literary.
(ˈmɛnəs)
Forms: α. 4 manasce, -aase, 4–5 manas(se, 4–6 manace, 5 menys, 5, 7 manesse, 6 mannace, -asshe, meanus, menasse, manasshe, 5– menace. β. north. and Sc. 4 manaunce, -anss, 4–5 man(n)ance, 5 manans.
[a. OF. manace, menace (mod. F. menace), a Com. Rom. word, = Pr. menassa, Sp. (a)menaza, Pg. (a)mea{cced}a, It. minaccia:—L. minācia, f. mināc-, minax adj. threatening, f. minārī to threaten.
The β forms prob. arose from association with words in -ance. Editors have commonly printed manauce, etc., but the -ance is in several instances authenticated by rimes.]
a. A declaration or indication of hostile intention, or of a probable evil or catastrophe; a threat.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1834 For quils þat godd þam raght his grace, Littel roght þam of his manance [other MSS. manace]. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 340 He bad hem trete, And stinte of the manaces grete. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5032 He had mare drede of his trespas þan of þe Erlis manas. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. xvi. (1889) 54 Somme maken grete menaces whiche haue no myghte. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxxvii. 207 b, Suche wordes and manasshes abasshed greatly y⊇ cardynals. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. ix. vii. (1886) 142 They stand in more awe of the manacies of a witch than of all the threatnings..pronounced by God. 1664 H. More Myst. of Iniq. 281 Those powerful and affrightful words of Excommunication, that Menace of committing men to Hell-fire. 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin iii. 134 And scorn their proudest braves, their stern Menaces! [rime faces]. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 120 A menace alone, without a consequent inconvenience, makes not the injury. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. iv. i, What means this menace? 1867 Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. ix. 106 The fierce menace was delivered amidst frowning groups of..nobles. |
b. In generalized use: The action of threatening.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 27439 He dredis manas or tresum. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 63 A pore man þei constreynen to synne bi manas. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 5 A sturdy champion..His swerd upreryd, proudly gave manace. c 1447 in Jarrow & Wearmouth (Surtees) 243 W{supt} mony other wirdis of menys. 1470 Gaw. & Gol. 446 Withoutin menance [rimes legiance, plesance]. 1508 Dunbar Flyting w. Kennedie 4 Had thay maid of mannace ony mynting. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xli. (1869) II. 511 The voice of menace and complaint was silent. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian iii, The Marchese persisted in accusation and menace. 1874 Green Short Hist. viii. §2. 477 The English fleet..was cruising by way of menace off the Spanish coast. |
† c. Phr. to make (much, great, no) menace.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 28517 In gang, in chere, in contenance, Þat i to men ha mad manace. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 664 Thai..gret mananss till him mais. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3383 All hir mode chaungede, And mad myche manace with mervayllous wordez. c 1470 Gol. & Gaw. 355 And mak him na manance, bot al mesoure. 1634 Milton Comus 654 Though he and his curst crew Feirce signe of battail make, and menace high. |
d. Attributed to impersonal agents.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. met. iv. 7 (Camb. MS.) The Rage ne the manesses of þe see commoeuynge or chasinge vpward heete. 1697 Dryden æneid ix. 38 The dark Menace of the distant War. 1824 Byron Def. Transf. i. ii. 195 Wilt thou Turn back from shadowy menaces of shadows? 1841 James Brigand i, If yonder frowning cloud fulfil one half its menaces. 1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems 19 The sudden war and menace of the skies. |
e. Said of a state of things, etc., which threatens danger or catastrophe.
| 1857 Gallenga Italy 373 It was an insult to the republicans,..it was a menace to the aristocracy of Turin. 1874 Green Short Hist. vii. §3. 362 The old social discontent..remained a perpetual menace to public order. |
f. colloq. Applied to a person.
| 1936 D. Carnegie How to win Friends and influence People 63 A few doors down the street lived a ‘menace’, as they say out in Hollywood—a bigger boy who would pull the little boy off his tricycle and ride it himself. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §583/16 Villain..menace. Ibid. §636/23 Formidable opponent..menace. 1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target iii. xiii. 95 That B.S.M.'s a bloody menace. |
▪ II. menace, v.
(ˈmɛnəs)
Forms: α. 4 manysche, Sc. maynysse, 4–5 manaas(s)e, manesse, 4–6 manas(s)e, mannasse, 4–7 manace, 4–5 manasce, -ashe, meanashe, 5 manece, 5–6 manasshe, -ysshe, 6 Sc. manes(s)e, -is(s)e, -ische, -yse, -yssyche, mannese, -esche, minisse, mynace, 6–7 chiefly Sc. menasse, minace, -ase, myn-, minasse, 5– menace. β. north. and Sc. 4 man(n)ance, mananse, -aunce, -aunse, -aunze.
[a. F. menacer (11th c.), also manecier, -echier, AF. manasser (Wadington) = Pr. menassar, Sp. (a)menazar, Pg. (a)mea{cced}ar, It. minacciare:—popular L. *mināciāre, f. minācia menace n.]
1. trans. To utter or hold out menaces against; to threaten.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3681 Ȝyf þou any man manasse Þurgh force or power þat þou hasse. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxvii. 10 God manaunsid þaim with hell. 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 150 Thai..Mannausit [read Mannansit] the Scottis men halely With gret vordis. 1472–3 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 54/1 The said Thomas Trethenry and Elizabeth his wyfe,..have thretted and manassed the Tenauntes. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxvii. 40 These infidels sore dyd manysshe Christendome. 1545 Burgh Rec. Stirling (1887) 41 Contrair the will of the wache, manisand and boistand thaim. 1632 Heywood 1st Pt. Iron Age iii. i. Wks. 1874 III. 304 The boldest Greeke That euer manac'd Troy. 1739 Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 262 When he is compell'd or menac'd into any opinion that he does not readily conceive. 1828 Macaulay Ess., Hallam (1851) I. 54 Her subjects were incited to rebellion; her life was menaced. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xvii, ‘Hear me’, he replied, menacing her with his hand. |
b. Said of impersonal agents.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 6 How þat elde manaced me. 1483 Caxton Cato 4 How the foure elementes menace alle men that [etc.]. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 175 Your eyes do menace me: why looke you pale? a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 4 High woods, whose mounting tops menace the spheres. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 306 These evils are great... Sooner or later they may menace the nation itself. 1840 Macaulay Ess., Clive (1851) II. 523 A new and formidable danger menaced the western frontier. |
† c. Const. inf. Obs.
| c 1325 Song of Yesterday 158 in E.E.P. (1862) 137 Wel þou wost..Þat deþ haþ manast þe to die. 1429 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 345/2 [They] hem maneshud to bee dede if they made any resistence. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 118 Thei toke hym and menaced hym to stone hym vnto dethe. |
2. intr. To utter menaces; to be threatening.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8853 So longe he manased & þret, Atte laste to-gydere þey met. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 159 O man is meeke, anothir doth manace. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. iv. 74 Furtht drawin haldis this subtell hors of tree, And manysand strydis throw the myd cietie. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 44 Who euer knew the Heauens menace so? a 1700 Dryden Fables, Pythag. Philos. 36 'Twas Death to go away, And the God menac'd if he dar'd to stay. 1774 Burke Sp. Amer. Tax. Sel. Wks. I. 135 Earth below shook; heaven above menaced. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. xii. 1 It was idle to menace while he was unable to strike. |
3. trans. To hold out as a punishment, penalty, or danger; to threaten to inflict.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter Prol. 3 Now manassand hell til wyckyd. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxiii. (VII Sleperis) 51 Þame manesand ded in þat place. 1529 More Dyaloge iv. Wks. 265/2 God, y{supt} manasseth vnto them y paines of hel. 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. v. (1626) 89 Such as menace warre. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 219 Their eyes..and their brandishing forked tongues,..menaces [sic] a horrid death. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 134 The chief symptoms, menacing abortion, are transitory pains in the back..or [etc.]. 1854 Milman Lat. Chr. vii. iii. (1864) IV. 137 No threatened excommunication is now menaced. |
b. with inf. or clause as object.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xli. (Agnes) 123 He..manesit hire to bet & bynd. c 1412 Hoccleve Reg. Princes 5292 Thi self manaseth þi self for to dye. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Denuntio, To manase that he will bryng him before a iudge. 1620 Quarles Jonah C 1 b, Great Ashur minaces with whip in hand, To entertaine thee (welcome) to his land. 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 12 The Riuer Tyber..often Manasseth to drowne the whole Mansions. 1883 J. Martine Reminisc. Old Haddington 73 The solitary dissentient was menacing to leave the meeting-house. |
† 4. To use threateningly. Obs. rare—1.
| 1649 Milton Eikon. 23 Swords and Pistols cockt and menac'd in the hands of about three hundred..Ruffians. |
Hence ˈmenaceable a., capable of being put down by threats; ˈmenaceful a., threatening; ˈmenacement, menacing, threatening; ˈmenacer, one who menaces or threatens.
| 1613 Wotton in Reliq. (1672) 416 Which feminine menacement did no doubt incite him to do it. 1642 W. Bird Mag. Hon. 46 The Menacer..standeth in the face of his enemy. 1746 Turnbull Justin xxviii. iii. 222 Antigonus..being besieged in his palace by a menaceful mob of the Macedonians. 1802–12 Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) III. 70 A threat, an act of menacement. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvii. vii. (1872) VI. 203 The malpractice seems to have proved menaceable in that manner. 1891 Gd. Words Aug. 556/1 Did it acquire its menaceful character because it had been placed on the head of Medusa? |