¹peril

noun per·il \ˈper-əl, ˈpe-rəl\

: the possibility that you will be hurt or killed or that something unpleasant or bad will happen

: something that is likely to cause injury, pain, harm, or loss

Full Definition of PERIL

: exposure to the risk of being injured, destroyed, or lost : danger <fire put the city in peril>

: something that imperils or endangers : risk <lessen the perils of the streets>

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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
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Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin periculum — more at fear

First Known Use: 13th century

verb per·il \ˈper-əl, ˈpe-rəl\

per·iled also per·illedper·il·ing also per·il·ling

transitive verb

: to expose to danger

… 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