hazard

[haz-erd] /ˈhæz ərd/
noun
1.
an unavoidable danger or risk, even though often foreseeable:
The job was full of hazards.
2.
something causing unavoidable danger, peril, risk, or difficulty:
the many hazards of the big city.
3.
the absence or lack of predictability; chance; uncertainty:
There is an element of hazard in the execution of the most painstaking plans.
4.
Golf. a bunker, sand trap, or the like, constituting an obstacle.
5.
the uncertainty of the result in throwing a die.
6.
a game played with two dice, an earlier and more complicated form of craps.
7.
Court Tennis. any of the winning openings.
8.
(in English billiards) a stroke by which the player pockets the object ball (winning hazard) or his or her own ball after contact with another ball (losing hazard)
verb (used with object)
9.
to offer (a statement, conjecture, etc.) with the possibility of facing criticism, disapproval, failure, or the like; venture:
He hazarded a guess, with trepidation, as to her motives in writing the article.
10.
to put to the risk of being lost; expose to risk:
In making the investment, he hazarded all his savings.
11.
to take or run the risk of (a misfortune, penalty, etc.):
Thieves hazard arrest.
12.
to venture upon (anything of doubtful issue):
to hazard a dangerous encounter.
Idioms
13.
at hazard, at risk; at stake; subject to chance:
His reputation was at hazard in his new ventures.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English hasard < Old French, perhaps < Arabic al-zahr the die
Related forms
hazardable, adjective
hazarder, noun
hazardless, adjective
prehazard, adjective
unhazarded, adjective
unhazarding, adjective
well-hazarded, adjective
Synonyms
1. See danger. 3. accident, fortuity, fortuitousness. 10. stake, endanger, peril, imperil.
Antonyms
1. safety.
Examples from the web for hazard
  • The first is the risk of moral hazard within the bailout itself.
  • And fine calculations about moral hazard are less pressing when investors are fleeing risk.
  • And media scholars have been able to hazard some interesting answers.
  • But one timeless desert hazard has already become manifest in the current conflict.
  • Spilled or vaporized gasoline is not the only chemical hazard if the station is also a repair shop.
  • If only there was an easier way to disentangle this fire hazard.
  • But if it's not planted or stabilized properly, it can present a hazard in wet weather.
  • The report also mentions another less-obvious hazard.
  • In some situations, academe can actually schedule a new faculty member for the hazard of burnout.
  • There's a moral hazard in there, too, if you look at it.
British Dictionary definitions for hazard

hazard

/ˈhæzəd/
noun
1.
exposure or vulnerability to injury, loss, evil, etc
2.
at hazard, at risk; in danger
3.
a thing likely to cause injury, etc
4.
(golf) an obstacle such as a bunker, a road, rough, water, etc
5.
chance; accident (esp in the phrase by hazard)
6.
a gambling game played with two dice
7.
(real tennis)
  1. the receiver's side of the court
  2. one of the winning openings
8.
(billiards) a scoring stroke made either when a ball other than the striker's is pocketed (winning hazard) or the striker's cue ball itself (losing hazard)
verb (transitive)
9.
to chance or risk
10.
to venture (an opinion, guess, etc)
11.
to expose to danger
Derived Forms
hazardable, adjective
hazard-free, adjective
Word Origin
C13: from Old French hasard, from Arabic az-zahr the die
Word Origin and History for hazard
n.

c.1300, from Old French hasard, hasart (12c.) "game of chance played with dice," possibly from Spanish azar "an unfortunate card or throw at dice," which is said to be from Arabic az-zahr (for al-zahr) "the die." But this is doubtful because of the absence of zahr in classical Arabic dictionaries. Klein suggests Arabic yasara "he played at dice;" Arabic -s- regularly becomes Spanish -z-. The -d was added in French in confusion with the native suffix -ard. Sense evolved in French to "chances in gambling," then "chances in life." In English, sense of "chance of loss or harm, risk" first recorded 1540s.

v.

"put something at stake in a game of chance," 1520s, from Middle French hasarder "to play at gambling" (15c.), from hasard (see hazard (n.)). Related: Hazarded; hazarding.

Encyclopedia Article for hazard

dice game dating at least to the 13th century and possibly of Arabic origin: the word hazard derives from the Arabic al-zahr ("die"). It was immensely popular in medieval Europe and was played for high stakes in English gambling rooms. The name of the popular American dice game of craps derives from the nickname "crabs" for the throws 1-1 and 1-2 in hazard. The modern rules of craps also grew out of the old English game

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