# hazard

/ˈhæzɝd/ (US) · /hˈæzəd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/hazard
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. a danger or risk

noun · CEFR B2

something that is dangerous and could cause harm or an accident.

For teachers: a potential source of harm, danger, or risk. Countable in most contexts.

- Wet floors are a serious safety hazard in a busy restaurant.
- The safety inspector identified several fire hazards in the old warehouse, including blocked exits and faulty electrical wiring.

### 2. golf course obstacle

noun · CEFR B2

an area on a golf course that is difficult to play out of, like a pond or a sand pit.

For teachers: a permanent obstacle on a golf course, such as a bunker or a water feature, designed to increase the difficulty of play.

- His ball landed in a water hazard, so he had to take a penalty shot.
- The course designer strategically placed sand hazards around the green to challenge even the most experienced professional golfers.

### 3. computing/CPU error

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a technical problem in a computer's processor that stops it from working correctly for a moment.

For teachers: a condition in a CPU pipeline where the next instruction cannot execute in the following clock cycle due to data or control dependencies.

- The engineer had to fix a data hazard that was slowing down the processor.
- Modern microarchitectures use complex forwarding logic to mitigate the performance impact of data hazards in the instruction pipeline.

### 4. an old dice game

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic

a game of chance played with dice that was popular hundreds of years ago.

For teachers: a gambling game played with two dice, popular from the medieval period through the 19th century.

- The characters in the old story spent their evenings playing hazard in the tavern.
- In the eighteenth century, many aristocrats lost their family fortunes at the hazard tables of London's exclusive gaming clubs.

### 5. to suggest or guess

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal

to say something even though you know you might be wrong.

For teachers: to venture or risk a statement or guess, often used in the polite phrase 'hazard a guess'.

- I would not dare to hazard a guess about who will win the election.
- Few economists were willing to hazard a prediction regarding the long-term effects of the new trade policy.

Usage: Usually takes a direct object like 'guess', 'opinion', or 'prediction'.

## Examples

- Icy roads are a major hazard in winter.
- The safety inspector identified several fire hazards in the old building, including faulty wiring and blocked exits.
- While the expedition's physical hazards were clear, the true psychological hazard lay in the prolonged isolation and the creeping sense of despair it could induce.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.