1[transitiveT]THREATEN to say that you will cause someone harm or trouble if they do not do what you want 威胁,恐吓
Postal workers are threatening a strike if they don’t receive a pay increase.
邮政工人威胁如果不加薪,他们就要罢工。
threaten to do something
He threatened to take them to court.
他扬言要把他们告上法庭。
threaten somebody with something
Doctors are sometimes threatened with violence if they don’t do what patients want.
医生如果不按照病人的要求去做,有时会受到暴力威胁。
threaten (that)
Then he became angry and threatened that he would go to the police.
然后他生气了,威胁说要去报警。
2[transitiveT]PROBABLY to be likely to harm or destroy something 威胁到;危及
Poaching threatens the survival of the rhino.
偷猎危及犀牛的生存。
threaten to do something
The incident threatens to ruin his chances in the election.
这件事威胁到他当选的机会。
be threatened with something
Large areas of the jungle are now threatened with destruction.
大片大片的热带丛林现在面临毁灭的危险。
3[intransitiveI, transitiveT] to be likely to happen or be in a bad situation 〔不利的事〕可能发生;可能引起〔不利的后果〕
Britain’s fishing industry remains threatened.
英国的捕鱼业仍然面临着威胁。
Dark clouds threatened rain.
乌云预示着要下雨了。
Examples from the Corpus
threaten• All this is supposed to guarantee a sense of safety, but after Mr Safra's death, the image is threatened.• The unions threatened a further general strike on Aug. 22-23 if basic food subsidies and wages were not increased.• All liberties, in fact, threaten each other: one limits another, and later succumbs to a further rival.• Then he started threatening me and saying that my family might get hurt.• After threatening the manager with a knife, he stole £300 and ran off.• Pollution is threatening the marine life in the bay.• The February attack could mark a change of tactics which will really threaten the regime if there is an escalation.• A severedrought is threatening the ricecrop.• Illegalhuntingthreatens the survival of the AfricanElephant.• According to some scientists, globalwarmingthreatens the survival of the whole human race.• By August, it was clear that the volcano could threaten the whole island.• When Rose was pregnant, Steve threatened to call the poor child after the book's narrator, Ishmael!• The disputethreatened to damage East-West relations.• But one night Hilda drowned herself in the lake, just as she had threatened to do.• When they found out he was an American, the soldiersthreatened to kill him.• Somalia was again crippled by a drought that threatened to kill hundreds of thousands more.• Every time we have a quarrel, she threatens to leave me.• Flowers made an excellentsave from Roy Keane three minutes later as Unitedthreatened to record a big win.• Our rainforests are being threatened with destruction, and the consequences will be severe.• I was threatened with jail if I published the story.