▪ I. threatening, vbl. n.
(ˈθrɛt(ə)nɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb threaten; menacing; also, an instance of this, a threat.
| c 1290 St. Kenelm 242 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 352 So gret þretningue for him heo made. 1388 Wyclif Acts iv. 29 And now, Lord, biholde in to the thretnyngis [1382 thretingis] of hem. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xvi. 46 By thretnyng he shal also fraye hem. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV 7 b, The said kyng..menaced theym with sore thretenynges. 1611 Bible Eph. vi. 9 Doe the same things vnto them, forbearing threatning. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. iii. 54 The Spaniards, despising their threatening. 1865–6 H. Phillips Amer. Paper Curr. II. 12 The threatenings of war were then only heard at a distance. |
▪ II. ˈthreatening, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
That threatens; conveying or indicating a threat or menace; portending some impending evil.
| 1530 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 83 Gevyng hym many thretenyng and opprobryous words. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini, Pol. Touchstone (1674) 287 With threatning countenances they said [etc.]. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 48 If Tilly did but write a threatening letter. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xxx, There muster yonder in the west some threatening clouds. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 118 The fever is high, and the condition of the patient is threatening. |