peril

1 of 2

noun

per·​il ˈper-əl How to pronounce peril (audio)
ˈpe-rəl
1
: exposure to the risk of being injured, destroyed, or lost : danger
fire put the city in peril
2
: something that imperils or endangers : risk
lessen the perils of the streets

peril

2 of 2

verb

per·​il ˈper-əl How to pronounce peril (audio)
ˈpe-rəl
periled also perilled; periling also perilling

transitive verb

: to expose to danger

Examples of peril in a Sentence

Noun Just last week he issued a statement encouraging all Iraqis to participate in the election scheduled for January, and he called on the Iraqi government to start registering voters. The powers that be in Iraq ignore him at their peril. Johanna McGeary, Time, 25 Oct. 2004
One lesson of both the law-school and the Paulin controversies may be the peril of making free-speech judgments at Internet speed. Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2003
The old man rose and towered over Cameron, and then plunged down upon him, and clutched at his throat with terrible stifling hands. The harsh contact, the pain awakened Cameron to his peril before it was too late. Zane Grey, Desert Gold, 1913
People are unaware of the peril these miners face each day. She described global warming as “a growing peril.” Verb … she did more harm than all Frederick's diplomacy could repair, and perilled her chance of her inheritance like a giddy heedless creature as she was. William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, 1848
a tribute to the men and women who, as firefighters, peril their lives daily
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The internet amplifies the messaging of nefarious groups and can often put others in peril. Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024 Aid workers argue that the incident underscores the perils of Israel trying to organize aid deliveries rather than relying on the United Nations and other more experienced partners. Claire Parker, Washington Post, 3 Mar. 2024 Boise, Idaho, ranked last − which means that city has the fewest citizens in financial peril. USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2024 Companies that have not yet adopted such views do so at their own peril. Tom Watkins, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Editor’s picks The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time But a series of increasingly concerning brushes with perils as varied as the IRS, venomous snakes, and even death brought the Saints to what could have — and possibly should have — been the end of the road. Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 29 Feb. 2024 Scenes of wartime destruction in Aleppo are realized with impressive authenticity, courtesy of juddering sound work and Julie Berghoff’s textured production design, while a shivery, waterborne finale, staged under relentless lashings of rain, attains a genuine air of heart-in-mouth peril. Guy Lodge, Variety, 25 Feb. 2024 The promise and peril of the internet has always been a memory greater than our own, a permanent recall of information and events that our brains can’t store. Lauren Goode, WIRED, 13 Feb. 2024 Howard’s contract situation also put him in peril of being cut. Daniel Oyefusi, Miami Herald, 23 Feb. 2024

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

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French, going back to Latin perīculum "test, trial, risk, danger," going back to *perei-tlom, from *perei- (of uncertain origin) + *-tlom, instrumental suffix (going back to Indo-European)

Note: Latin perīculum has traditionally been explained as a derivative from a proposed Indo-European verbal base *per- "test, risk," seen also in perītus "practiced, experienced," experior, experīrī "to put to the test, attempt, have experience of, undergo" (see experience entry 1) and opperior, opperīrī "to wait, wait for"; these have been compared with Greek peîra "trial, attempt, experience," peiráomai, peirâsthai "to make a trial of, attempt," émpeiros "experienced" (see empiric)—going back to *per-i̯a—and more tentatively with Germanic *fērō "pursuit, danger" (see fear entry 2). This *per- "test, risk" is then taken further as a semantic derivative of *per- "cross, pass" (see fare entry 1). Alternatively, if the formative -i- represents the Indo-European present-tense suffix *-ei̯-/-i-, Latin peri-/perī- in these words fits naturally with Indo-European *perh3-/pr̥h3- "bring forth, give rise to, produce" (if taken as a middle verb "give rise to within oneself, experience, undergo"), with *pr̥h3-i- yielding Latin pariō, parere "to give birth to" (see parturient entry 1) and *perh3-ei̯- yielding the per-ī- of perīculum, etc. It is unclear if the base of experior and opperior contains par- or per-, as the simplex verb is not attested. (Cf. Michiel de Vaan, "PIE i-presents, s-presents, and their reflexes in Latin," Glotta, Band 87 [2011], pp. 23-36.)

Verb

derivative of peril entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1567, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of peril was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near peril

Cite this Entry

“Peril.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peril. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

peril

noun
per·​il
ˈper-əl
1
: the state of being in danger of injury, loss, or destruction
2
: something that presents immediate danger
perils of the highway

Legal Definition

peril

noun
per·​il ˈper-əl How to pronounce peril (audio)
1
: exposure to the risk of death, destruction, or loss
2
: the cause of a loss (as of property)
insured their home against fire, floods, and other perils
compare risk

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