How to Use threaten in a Sentence

threaten

verb

• The mugger threatened him with a gun.
• She threatened to quit if they didn't give her a raise, but no one believed her.
• Civil war has been threatening the country for years.
• The latest news threatens trouble for the economy.
• Overfishing threatens the survival of certain fish species.
• Maduro and his cadres have threatened to lock up both of them.
  — Jorge Rueda and Regina Garcia Cano, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2024
• Later in the episode, Spears got emotional again and threatened to quit the show.
  — Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 22 Nov. 2023
• The woman said Marchetti killed her dog and threatened to kill her next.
  — Rey Covarrubias Jr., The Arizona Republic, 21 June 2024
• When a guard threatened to shoot, the group backed off and Ms. Stafford felt her resolve deflate.
  — Lynsey Chutel Gulshan Khan, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2023
• But there are some risks that threaten De Haan’s outlook.
  — Krystal Hur, CNN, 28 May 2023
• That sounds like a lot, but the sum so far has not appeared to threaten U.S. economic growth.
  — Fatima Hussein, Fortune, 3 Jan. 2024
• Then there is the island itself, shaped by the seasons and threatened by the hostile nature.
  — Annika Pham, Variety, 13 Nov. 2023
• When disaster threatens, her new friends — a pile of rocks, a rabbit, a cactus, the motel desk clerks— save the day.
  — Staff Author, Peoplemag, 26 Sep. 2023
• Basha threatened to open things in the bottom of the fifth inning after Aniyah Jaiman’s base hit drove in Garcia, giving the Bears a 3-0 lead.
  — Ben Stapley, The Arizona Republic, 16 May 2023
• Evers threatened to veto the entire budget over the DEI cuts.
  — The Editors, National Review, 18 Dec. 2023
• Right to Life group revoked its endorsement of him and threatened to do the same to any lawmaker who backed his bill.
  — Kate Zernike, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2023
• This morning the war threatens to expand as Israel exchanged strikes with Hezbollah in the north.
  — Nbc Universal, NBC News, 8 Oct. 2023
• The Huskies threatened to finish with more offensive rebounds than the Aztecs had in total.
  — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Mar. 2024
• When a bird flu epidemic starts threatening the farm, they are forced to rise above conflict and heal old wounds.
  — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 30 Oct. 2023
• Even though all of this appeared to be routine, Trump threatened to punish Nasdaq.
  — Matt Egan, CNN, 14 Sep. 2024
• The bandits threatened that if players were hiding money, their legs would be blown off.
  — Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, 16 May 2023
• Ukraine's neighbors will be threatened, all of Europe will be threatened.
  — Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 6 June 2024
• Police said Bell threatened the guard’s life if the tellers didn’t open the security door.
  — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
• Unexpectedly, the two fall in love and elope — but the fairytale is threatened when Vanya’s parents find out.
  — Ellise Shafer, Variety, 15 July 2024
• The volcanoes shown are among those most likely to threaten humans.
  — National Geographic, 13 Jan. 2023
• Her son and his fiancée, who had been scheduled to testify in a murder trial, were threatened by the suspects and killed in 2005.
  — Audra D. S. Burch, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2023
• The 10 sailors suffered non-life threatening injuries, Teach said.
  — Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 16 Aug. 2024
• During the hostage ordeal, Hamas threatened to kill the captives one by one and film the executions if their demands were not met.
  — Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2023
• That tenuous truce is suddenly threatened by an odd murder scene, which reluctantly unites two cops on opposite sides of the height scale.
  — Josh Weiss, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
• In that opener, Livingstone and Sam Curran were threatening to reawaken England’s chase after their callow line-up stumbled to 52 for 4.
  — Tim Ellis, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024

Last Updated: 15 Oct 2024