▪ I. danger, n.
(ˈdeɪndʒə(r))
Forms: 3–6 daunger, 4–5 daungere, dawnger(e, dangere, 5 daungeur, dangeour, 5–6 daungeour(e, 6 daungier, daengier, Sc. dangeir, -gier, -geare, denger, 4– danger.
[a. OF. dangier, danger:—late L. *dominiārium, deriv. of dominium lordship, sovereignty, f. dominus lord, master. The sense-development took place in OF.: see Godefroy. For the a cf. Dan1.]
A. n.
1. † a. Power of a lord or master, jurisdiction, dominion; power to dispose of, or to hurt or harm; esp. in phr. in (a person's) danger, within his power or at his mercy; sometimes meaning spec. in his debt, or under obligation to him. Obs. or arch.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 356, & þolieð ofte daunger of swuche oðerwhule þet muhte beon ower þrel. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1751 Þat he wolde hom al out bringe of þe daunger of rome. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 663 In dawngere had he att his owen gise The ȝonge girles of þe diocise. 1440 J. Shirley Dethe K. James (1818) 19 Thou hadest nevyr mercy of lordes..ne of non other gentilman, that came yn thy dawnger. 1461 Paston Lett. No. 399 II. 25, I am gretly yn your danger and dette for my pension. 1556 Ridley's Wks. (1843) 101 They put themselves in the danger of King Ahab, saying, ‘Behold we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are pitiful and merciful’. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 180 You stand within his danger, do you not? 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 408 He..having got him within his danger, cruelly put him to death. a 1679 Hobbes Rhet. i. xiii. (1681) 33 Persons obnoxious to Injury are..Such as are in our danger. 1825 Scott Betrothed xxx, If the Constable were once within his danger. |
† b. Power (of a person, weapon, or missile) to inflict physical injury; reach or range. Also
fig.| 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 43 To withdraw ws..Till we cum owt off thar daunger. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxii. 199 The archers shotte so holly togyder, that none durst come in their dangers. 1576 Newton Lemnie's Complex. (1633) 39 Within the levill and danger of this vice, are all they. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iii. 35 Keepe within the reare of your Affection; Out of the shot and danger of Desire. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 679 If he should show himself by troups within the danger of the shot. 1618 Latham 2nd Bk. Falconry (1633) 42 Your Spaniels will hunt..so neere you and your Hawke, as they shall neuer spring any thing out of her danger. 1676 Doctr. of Devils 200 This draws the Birds into their Dangers. |
† c. Power of another as it affects one under it; a state of subjection, bondage, or captivity.
Obs.| c 1350 Will. Palerne 4227 Boute daunger or duresse or any despit elles. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6584 Troilus was..turnyt furth louse, And don out of daunger for the due tyme. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xxv, Thynke one þe dawngere and the dole þat I in duelle [in hell]. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 4 Free from all captiuite and daunger. 1535 Coverdale Isa. lviii. 6 Till..thou lowse him out of bondage, that is in thy daunger. |
† d. Liability (to loss, punishment, etc.).
in danger to or of: liable to.
Obs.| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 206 For he þat is ones a thef is euermore in daungere, And as lawe lyketh to lyue or to deye. 1465 Paston Lett. No. 508 II. 200 Thei say that I am sufficient to bere the hole daunger. 1526 Tindale Pathw. Holy Scrip. Wks. I. 9 The wretched man (that knoweth himself to be..in danger to death and hell). 1611 Bible Matt. v. 22 In danger of the iudgment. 1689 Wood Life Aug. 31 (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) A Gent. threatned to bring him into danger. |
e. The phrase
out of debt out of danger perh. originally belonged here; but is now taken in sense 4.
| 1730–6 in Bailey (folio), s.v. Debt. 1804 M. Edgeworth Pop. Tales, Out of Debt Out of Danger. |
† 2. a. Difficulty (made or raised); hesitation, reluctance, chariness, stint, grudging; coyness.
to make danger [
OF. faire dangier (
de)]: to make a difficulty (about doing anything).
Obs.| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 397/155 Sein eustas made gret daunger & natheles ate nende to þe emperour..he gan wende. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 283 He but danger till him gais. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 521 With danger uttren we all our chaffare. c 1400 Rom. Rose 1147 Gold and silver for to dispend Withouten lacking or daungere. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) ii. x, And our lorde made fyrste daungeour by cause she was an alyene. c 1500 Melusine 219 They of Coloyne made grete daunger to lete passe the oost thrughe the Cite at brydge. 1526 Dalaber in Foxe A. & M. (1583) 1196, I made danger of it a while at first: but afterwarde being perswaded by them..I promised to do as they wold haue me. |
b. Untowardness; ungracious, uncompliant, or fractious conduct.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. (Cott.) 6299 Wit þair danger, sir moyses [v.r. grucchynge on moyses], Oft þai did him haue malees. c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 186 Hir daunger made him booþe bowe and beende And as hir lyste made him tourne and wende. |
† 3. A place where one is at the mercy of an enemy; a narrow pass; a strait.
Obs.| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 208 In the daunger of a pas, Through which this tiraunt shulde pas She shope his power to compas. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 114 Daunger, or grete [Pynson streyte] passage, arta via. |
4. a. Liability or exposure to harm or injury; the condition of being exposed to the chance of evil; risk, peril. (Directly from sense 1; see
esp. 1 d. Now the main sense.)
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xiv. 352 There is dangeour by cause of the nyghte. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxii. 253 Esclaramonde saw Huon her housebonde in that daunger. 1552 Bk. Common Prayer, Communion, So is the daunger great, if we receyue the same vnworthely. 1620 Shelton Quix. III. xli. 280 'Tis ordinarily said that Delay breeds Danger. 1789 A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. (1805) IV. 44 The sea running immensely high, it brought them again into great danger. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. I. ix. 187 Danger is a good teacher, and makes apt scholars. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 186 It is also a source of danger to the building. |
b. Const. (
a)
of that which is exposed to peril. (Now
rare or
arch. exc. with
life.) (
b)
of the evil that threatens or impends. (Now the ordinary
const.)
† (
c)
to with
inf. Obs.| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 479 Elles they ben in daungeur of their lives. 1555 Eden Decades Pref. to Rdr. (Arb.) 51 The Moore..possessed a greate parte of Spayne to no smaule daungeoure of the hole Christian Empire. c 1676 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 32 Lord Mohun..was four days in danger of lyfe but now is upon recovery. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 105 b, In gravel..there is no danger of finding water. Mod. He goes in danger of his life. |
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos vi. 29 In dangeour of myserable deth. 1690 Locke Govt. ii. xiv. §168 This..wise Princes never need come in the Danger of. 1715 J. Richardson Th. Painting 128 There was no danger of that in Rafaëlle. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 373 They lost their way..and were in danger of having to pass the night on the plain. |
| 1580 North Plutarch, Theseus §35 In danger to die. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 1 Sure to be misconstrued, and in danger to be condemned. 1695 Bp. Patrick Comm. Gen. 293 It might have been in danger to have been neglected. |
c. spec. on
Railways. Risk in a train's proceeding owing to an obstruction, etc. on the line; the position of a signal indicating this.
| 1841 Committee on Railways Q. 467 You think it would be desirable that on all railways red should indicate danger? 1874 Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. XXXVIII. 149 A signal is said to be ‘on’, when it is at danger. |
5. a. (with
a and
pl.) An instance or cause of danger;
pl. perils, risks.
| 1538 Starkey England i. ii. 42 Ful of manyfold peryllys and daungerys. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 25 To commit themselves unto the daungers of the sea. 1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. I. Addr. to Rdr. 3 Blind to the dangers of their country. 1884 Times (Weekly Ed.) 5 Sept. 3/2 Two territorial questions..unsettled..each of which was a positive danger to the peace of Europe. |
b. Naut. A submerged rock, or the like, causing danger to vessels.
| 1699 W. Hacke Coll. Voy. iii. 59 At three quarters Ebb, you may see all the Dangers going in..But I would not advise any Man to go in till he has viewed the Harbour at low Water. 1858 Merc. Marine Mag. V. 347 It appeared to him to be a detached danger, 6 or 9 feet under the surface. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pock. Bk. v. (ed. 2) 137 Buoys painted red and black are placed on detached dangers. |
† 6. Mischief, harm, damage.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 146 And he no daunger nor deire for þat dede haue. 1530 Palsgr. 212/1 Daunger on the see, navfraige. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 277 Then the king of his mere pity..suffered them to passe through his hoste without daunger. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 38. 1601 ― Jul. C. ii. i. 17 We put a Sting in him, That at his will he may doe danger with. |
† 7. The lordship over a forest; the rent paid in acknowledgement of this (so
OF. dangier). ‘In the Forest-Law, a duty paid by the Tenants to the Lord for leave to plough and sow in the time of Pannage, or Mast-feeding’ (Phillips 1706).
Obs.| 1693 Phil. Trans. XVII. 691 He ends this Treatise with an Enumeration of the Quit-rents formerly paid out of the Weald, as Gavel-swine, Scot-ale, Corredy, and Danger. |
† 8. to make danger: in 17th c. used in sense of L.
periculum facere, to make trial or experiment; to venture, ‘risk it’.
Obs. (Perhaps the phrase in 2 taken in a new sense.)
| 1618 Fletcher Legal Subj. iii. iv, Make danger, Trie what they are, trie. 1621 ― Wild Goose Chase i. ii, I shall make danger. a 1625 ― Hum. Lieut. iv. ii, Leon. Art thou so valiant? Lieut. Not absolutely so neither—yet I'll make danger, Colonel. |
† B. ? as
adj. Dangerous, perilous.
Obs. rare.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 202 We ar our ner, sic purpos for to tak; A danger chace thai mycht vpon ws mak. |
C. Comb., usually
attrib. (
cf. sense 4), as
danger-area,
danger-board,
danger-chuckle (see
quot.),
danger-flag,
danger-level,
danger-point,
danger-spot,
danger-whistle,
danger-zone;
danger-free,
danger-teaching adjs.;
danger angle, (
a)
Naut. the angle enclosed by lines drawn from two known points to a point marking the limit of safe approach to a danger to navigation, so that a ship by steering a course keeping the two known points at a larger or smaller angle will avoid the danger; (
b)
Gunnery (see
quot. 1918);
danger line, a line, real or imaginary, representing the division between safety and danger;
danger man, a player or competitor in a sports contest regarded as posing a serious threat to the opposition; one capable of winning or turning a game;
danger money, a payment made beyond basic wages for dangerous work; also
fig.;
danger-signal, a signal indicating danger;
spec. on
Railways, a signal (usually the extended arm of a signal-post painted red, or a red light) indicating an obstruction, etc. ahead.
| 1892 Notes on Navigation H.M. Ships (ed. 3) 13 The use of a *danger angle in passing outlying rocks with land behind should also not be forgotten. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 109/2 To avoid an unnecessarily wide détour in rounding points and shoals, extensive use is now made of both horizontal and vertical danger angles. Ibid., The vertical danger angle enables similar results to be attained by measuring the vertical angle subtended by a known height. 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms, Danger angle, the angle which the tangent to the trajectory at the point of splash makes with the plane containing the point of splash and parallel to the horizontal plane through the muzzle of the piece in the firing position. |
| 1929 Star 21 Aug. 12/4 The gas leak..which made a portion of New Bridge-street a ‘*danger area’. 1939 News Review 30 Nov. 10 Sandringham is a ‘danger area’ inasmuch as the East coast..might well be the route taken by German bombers on their way to London. 1955 A. L. Rowse Expansion Eliz. Eng. i. 12 We get flashes of light upon the lurid scene from the comparative security of the towns..which swept like a sickle around the danger-area. |
| 1891 Cycling 21 Feb. 86 The local centre is about to erect a *danger-board on Maur Tor Hill. |
| 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. vii. (1860) 192 If a hen gives the *danger-chuckle. |
| 1862 Athenæum 31 May 717 The *danger-flag held out to warn their children off the road. |
| 1640 Shirley St. Patrick for Irel. v. iii, And make thy person *danger-free. |
| 1935 Discovery Dec. 360/2 A simple timing device will indicate whether this approaches the *danger-level. 1967 Oxford Computer Explained 31 Danger level, a predetermined level of stock, which when broken requires that any outstanding delivery previously requested be hastened. |
| 1890 Congress. Rec. 5 June 5654/2, I believe the good sense of our law-makers will still hold us inside the *danger line of peril. 1892 Notes on Navigation H.M. Ships (ed. 3) 8 The five-fathom line on most Admiralty charts is to be considered as a caution or danger line. 1902 Monthly Weather Rev. 3/1 The December floods of the Tennessee..continued considerably above the danger lines for the first few days. 1953 L. P. Hartley Go-Between xiv. 167 Again I was lucky with the Psalms; the Sunday before there had been forty-four verses; this Sunday there were forty-three, seven below the danger line. |
| 1976 Sunday Mail (Glasgow) 28 Nov. 44/7 Musselburgh went in at half-time two goals up after Aird had scored from a penalty and *danger man Blackie added another. 1980 Guardian Weekly 5 Oct. 24 He had to wait nearly an hour before he knew that his total of 269 would be good enough... Bernhard Langer of Germany, Severiano Ballesteros, Brian Waites and Lee Trevino all loomed as danger men. |
| 1942 W. H. Beveridge Social Insurance 39 If an occupation is specially hazardous it should carry remuneration—‘*danger money’. But to give danger money only in the form of higher wages, that is to say, only so long as no accident has occurred, is of little value. 1953 B. Boland Return in J. C. Trewin Plays of Year IX. 341 There is nothing on this earth so dangerous as putting out a finger to touch another human being's life... We should get danger-money. 1958 Economist 15 Nov. 573/2 It means..adding a new regiment of Naafi volunteers, with their ‘danger money’, to the British men and women who will have to be protected. 1966 Punch 19 Jan. 90/1 It may be that the rage for allowances was originally inspired by the dockers, with their claims for danger money, dirty money,..and all the rest. |
| 1835 J. A. Roebuck Short Rev. Long Session 11/1 When this excitement reaches *danger-point the Lords will yield. 1897 Daily News 22 Apr. 6/3 The Macedonian difficulty, which is the real danger-point. 1910 Westm. Gaz. 6 Apr. 2/3 The axle is the danger-point in all heavy vehicles which are run at high speeds. 1933 Archit. Rev. LXXIII. p. lviii, Such nosings..are apt to wear smooth..and furnish a danger-point at a critical part of the tread. |
| 1848 Rep. Railway Commissioners App. 84 The pointsman had not then turned the *danger signal. 1888 J. Shallow Templars Trials 71 A danger-signal to Christendom. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 4 Oct. 3/2 The *danger-spot in our new Treaty with Japan..is the provision for ‘insuring the independence and integrity of the Chinese Empire’. 1939 L. MacNeice Autumn Jrnl. xii. 49 Education..Trains us to keep the roads nor reconnoitre..the beauty-spots or danger-spots. |
| 1616 Lane Sqr.'s T. 120/47 Fames highe *daunger-teachinge schoole. |
| 1872 Ruskin Eagle's Nest 61 The *danger-whistle of the engines on the bridge. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 5 Feb. 7/3 An alarming fire broke out in the City *danger-zone soon after six o'clock last night. 1925 E. F. Norton Fight for Everest: 1924 58 Anywhere beyond the Base Camp may be considered as the ‘danger zone’. 1927 Observer 5 June 19/2 The chief new feature [of contract bridge] introduced in America has been what is known as the ‘Vulnerable’ or ‘Danger Zone’. 1928 V. Woolf in Times Lit. Suppl. 19 Jan. 34/1 Let us, as we approach the danger-zone of Hardy's philosophy, be on our guard. 1954 A. J. P. Taylor Struggle for Mastery xvii. 373 He and his advisers recognized that there was a ‘danger-zone’, an imaginary period when the British might suspect German designs and destroy her navy before it could hold its own. 1969 New Yorker 14 June 44/1 Ashe and Clark Graebner have long since entered the danger zone where any major mistake can mean the loss of the set. |
D. Colloq. phr. (to be) on the danger list: (to be) dangerously ill (as of a patient in hospital).
| 1938 S. Puder (title) On the danger list. A case history. 1950 C. MacInnes To Victors iii. 346, I asked them what they thought of the men on the danger list. 1960 E. H. Clements Honey for Marshal xi. 184 The fellow wasn't on the danger list any more... He could have come up by ambulance. 1970 Times 16 Feb. 3/8 Five patients on the danger list were slightly better, the hospital said. |
▪ II. † ˈdanger, v. Obs. [a. OF. dangerer, f. dangier, danger, danger.] 1. To render liable.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 1176 And all þe trouage..Þat he to Darius of dewe was dangird to paye. 1544 Four Supplic. (1871) 52 They be compelled to sell theyr landes..or els to daunger them selfe in dette to many. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 1 If it [libel] be liked, they know the authors; if it be dangered to penalty, it is none of theirs. |
2. To bring into or expose to danger; to endanger, imperil, risk.
| 1470 [see dangering]. 1544 Bale Chron. Sir J. Oldcastell in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) I. 247 They whyche..haue daungered theyr liues for a commonwelthe. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 133 The heedelesse practiser, which daungereth the patient. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, v. iii, Therefore, come; dalliance dangereth our lives. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 199. 1663 Pepys Diary 1 May, My stone-horse was very troublesome, and begun to fight with other horses, to the dangering him and myself. |
b. (with
inf.) To run the risk; to be in danger.
| 1672–3 Marvell Reh. Transp. II. 238 Should the Legislator persist..he would danger to be left in the field very single. |
3. ? To damage, harm, injure. (Cf
danger n. 6.)
| 1538 Bale God's Promises i. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 288 He must needs but fall..And danger himself. 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. i. ix, He would..bestow The damsell faire on him that in that fight..should..danger most the Pagans with his might. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. iii. i. (1668) 86 The dodder sheep is the best breeder, and his Issue never dangereth the Dam in yeaning. |
Hence
ˈdangered ppl. a.,
ˈdangering vbl. n.| a 1400–50 [see 1]. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 547 It is my dett to do all that I can To fend our kynrik out off dangeryng. ? c 1600 Distracted Emp. i. i. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 172 A long daungered seaman in a storme. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus iii. 2 To the present dangering and drowning of both. 1645 Quarles Sol. Recant. 34 Why should thy too much righteousnesse betray Thy danger'd life? 1819 Keats Otho i. i. Poems (1889) 423 This danger'd neck is saved. 1915 Oxf. Mag. 21 May 317/1 High Powers that love this dangered folk. |