Threatening

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

• threatning obsolete

Origin

From threaten + -ing.

Verb

1. Present participle of threaten

Full definition of threatening

Adjective

1. Presenting a threat; menacing; frightening.

Derived terms

Noun

1. An act of threatening; a threat.
• 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts IV:And nowe lorde beholde their threatenynges, and graunte unto thy servauntes wyth all confydence to speake thy worde.
• Charles Dickens, Pincher AstrayThe butcher's boy — a fierce and beefy youth, who openly defied the dog, and waved him off with hurlings of his basket and threatenings of his feet, accompanied by growls of "Git out, yer beast!" — now entered silently ...