menace

/ˈmɛnəs/

/ˈmɛnɛs/

Other forms: menacing; menaced; menaces

If it's threatening you or otherwise posing some sort of danger, then it's a menace. Angry rabid dogs, smog clouds, and annoying little brothers are all probable menaces.

The word menace works as both a noun and a verb, but it wasn't used to describe threatening or bothersome people until 1936. Before then, common menaces probably included things like the plague, locusts, and roving bands of pirate ships. Today, a bad reputation can menace an otherwise promising career, weeds can menace your garden, and burglars are a menace to society.

Definitions of menace

1. noun

   something that is a source of danger
   synonyms: threat

   types:

   yellow peril

   the threat to Western civilization said to arise from the power of Asiatic peoples

   type of:

   danger

   a cause of pain or injury or loss
2. noun

   a threat or the act of threatening
   “he spoke with desperate menace”

   type of:

   threat

   declaration of an intention or a determination to inflict harm on another
3. verb

   pose a threat to; present a danger to
   synonyms: endanger, imperil, jeopardise, jeopardize, peril, threaten

   type of:

   be, exist

   have an existence, be extant
4. verb

   express a threat either by an utterance or a gesture
   “he menaced the bank manager with a stick”

   type of:

   evince, express, show

   give expression to
5. verb

   act in a threatening manner
   “A menacing person”

   type of:

   act, behave, do

   behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself