How to Use harm in a Sentence

harm

1 of 2 noun
  • She'll do anything to protect her children from harm.
  • They threatened him with bodily harm.
  • The scandal has done irreparable harm to his reputation.
  • These new regulations could cause lasting harm to small businesses.
  • They have suffered serious physical harm.
  • There’s plenty of harm in the world, and this isn’t part of it.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 16 Nov. 2023
  • The message is clear: the chances of harm begin with the first drop.
    Lydia Denworth, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2023
  • Gone are the days of 3-in-1 shampoos that cause more harm than good.
    Sophia Panych, Allure, 8 Dec. 2023
  • Of course, Voller still wants it and now has the resources to cause genuine harm with it.
    Dan Lybarger, Arkansas Online, 29 June 2023
  • The judge didn’t reject the existence of the harms, or even that they were caused by oil spills.
    IEEE Spectrum, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Podolak, a complete stranger to the trio, didn’t hesitate to move into harm’s way to block the puck.
    George Solis, NBC News, 14 Apr. 2024
  • The harm is bigger than Diddy, and that’s why the movement has to be bigger than Diddy.
    Mesfin Fekadu, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Apr. 2024
  • The decision to release Dermody, said Bloom, does not permit the team to wash its hands of that harm.
    Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 16 June 2023
  • Hackers, for example, have long been able to cause harm.
    Markus Anderljung and Paul Scharre, Foreign Affairs, 14 Aug. 2023
  • He was charged with one count of kidnapping and one count of child abuse/no great bodily harm.
    Eli Masket, CNN, 12 July 2023
  • Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm.
    Paloma Chavez, Miami Herald, 5 Apr. 2024
  • Few of these homespun remedies have any research to support their use and may cause more harm than good.
    Nick Blackmer, Verywell Health, 29 June 2023
  • If the presence of a disease is missed, treatment may be delayed and real harm may result.
    Brandon Peters, Verywell Health, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Flipping through his Rolodex of crimes, special attention ought to be paid to ones that caused genuine harm.
    Jp Brammer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2023
  • The evacuation of northern Gaza is meant to take civilians out of harm’s way, Israel says.
    Raja Abdulrahim, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2023
  • How does the body interpret pain? Ironically, pain is meant to be a good thing that protects us from harm.
    Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Researchers did not determine whether this leaf damage caused any lasting harm to the trees.
    Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Oct. 2023
  • The flood of new studies on social media’s harms is spurring lawmakers to action.
    Jesse Greenspan, Scientific American, 26 May 2023
  • He was charged with kidnapping and child abuse with no great bodily harm, police said.
    Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 19 July 2023
  • High-density rollers can feel intense and even painful for those who are sensitive to pressure, which can cause more harm than good.
    Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 11 Jan. 2024
  • Eventually, Smith and Winchester were able to leave the closet and head to the team’s buses, which were filled with fans who were trying to get out of harm’s way, Smith said.
    Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Most of the harm was felt by unsheltered people and those with substance abuse disorder, data shows.
    Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, 7 Mar. 2024
  • As with any reservation request, there’s no harm in trying.
    Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 29 Feb. 2024
  • And she’s expanded her focus from biases to the harms caused by systems more broadly.
    Brian Merchant, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023
  • Health agencies are beginning to collect reports of harm from these newer compounds.
    Ashley Okwuosa, The Examination; Amy Yurkanin, Al.com; John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2024
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harm

2 of 2 verb
  • The scandal has seriously harmed his reputation.
  • He would never intentionally harm his children.
  • This is where mulch is spread in a mound up to the trunk, which can harm and even kill the tree.
    Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 10 Jan. 2024
  • The glowing takes some of the plant’s energy but doesn’t seem to harm the plant.
    Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2024
  • In 2017, a Google study found that slow load times can harm the companies that run the sites.
    Simon Hurtz, The Verge, 15 Sep. 2023
  • The water doesn't appear to be harming the birds, Wolfe said.
    CBS News, 10 Nov. 2023
  • And these instances harm Google’s public image and trust amongst users as well.
    John Hall, Forbes, 18 Feb. 2024
  • But when the boy threatened to harm himself, deputies kicked down the door and tried to apprehend him, Dicus said.
    Fox News, 4 Apr. 2024
  • No actual people were harmed in the making of the story.
    Deena Prichep, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024
  • Although the man was not harmed, Garcia still faced assault with a deadly weapon charges.
    James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
  • This thinking only harms us in the long term, DiGangi says.
    Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Well, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Was being on the offensive a nice change of pace after running from harm the whole movie?
    Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 June 2023
  • Not moving children from the area would have harmed their mental well-being.
    Louis Casiano, Fox News, 17 Feb. 2024
  • There is also talk of death and a mother dying, a tween girl is at times locked away, and there are guns in a few scenes, though no one is harmed.
    Lynnette Nicholas, Parents, 15 Dec. 2023
  • Musk accused the group of trying to harm its digital ad business.
    Bydavid Meyer, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2023
  • The fluffier head sweeps up tough dirt without harming hardwood floors.
    Brittany Johnson, Health, 11 Oct. 2023
  • At no point did the father point the weapon at anyone else or threaten to harm anyone other than himself, the lawsuit says.
    Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Yes, a letter with powder was sent to my apartment that almost harmed my daughter.
    Zack Sharf, Variety, 18 Sep. 2023
  • Crewmembers now start every leg at sea by scouring the decks for anything that people might use to harm themselves.
    Seth Freed Wessler, ProPublica, 11 Dec. 2023
  • Those with lung and heart conditions, older adults over age 65, pregnant women, and children are more likely to be harmed by the smoke.
    Marina Johnson, Detroit Free Press, 28 June 2023
  • Ford said the strike at the Kentucky plant is harming tens of thousands of Americans who work for parts suppliers and Ford dealers.
    Tom Krisher, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2023
  • Over the last year, those needing abortions, pregnancy care, and their providers have been unconscionably harmed.
    Andrea Miller, ELLE, 21 June 2023
  • This information can be used by other people to find you, contact you, or even harm you.
    Kurt Knutsson, Fox News, 19 Nov. 2023
  • Lead is toxic, and exposure to any amount of lead can harm health, according to health officials.
    Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024
  • Using these devices without proper filters can damage to the equipment and harm your eyes.
    The Arizona Republic, 3 Apr. 2024
  • Blum, who lives on the coast of Maine overlooking Penobscot Bay, believes race should neither help nor harm one’s life endeavors.
    BostonGlobe.com, 30 June 2023
  • On the one hand, to not do everything in her power to prevent her son from harming women would be to abnegate her duty to the future.
    Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023
  • As the band dealt with a faulty speaker setup, Harwell swayed back and forth, threatened to harm an audience member’s family and at one point gave the Nazi salute.
    Ismail Muhammad, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2023
  • Not being admitted to elite schools could thus harm many candidates of color.
    Chandelis Duster, CNN, 30 June 2023
  • The formula is low in VOCs (volatile organic compounds), meaning the paint will not harm the environment or have a strong odor.
    Nor'adila Hepburn, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 Oct. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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