threat
n. C / Un. a statement or sign that someone might hurt you or cause problems. You also use it to describe a danger that could happen in the future.
n. an expression of intent to inflict harm, pain, or misery; also, a person or thing likely to cause damage or danger. Often used with the preposition 'to' or 'of'.
The dark clouds are a threat of rain.
The company faced a serious threat from new competitors who offered much lower prices.
While the immediate threat of a strike has passed, the underlying tension between the management and the workforce remains a significant hurdle for the upcoming fiscal year.
From Middle English threte, thret, thrat, thræt, threat, from Old English þrēat (“crowd, swarm, troop, army, press; pressure, trouble, calamity, oppression, force, violence, threat”), from Proto-Germanic þrautaz, closely tied to Proto-Germanic þrautą (“displeasure, complaint, grievance, labour, toil”), from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to squeeze, push, press”), whence also Middle Low German drōt (“threat, menace, danger”), Middle High German drōz (“annoyance, disgust, horror, terror, fright”), Icelandic þraut (“struggle, labour, distress”), Russian труд (trud, “work, labour”), Polish trud (“hard work”), Latin trūdō (“push”, verb).
From Middle English threten, from Old English þrēatian (“to press, oppress, repress, correct, threaten”). Akin to Middle Dutch drōten (“to threaten”).
Commonly takes the preposition 'to' when describing the target of danger, or 'of' when describing the nature of the danger.
a threat for the environmenta threat to the environmentWhen describing what is being endangered, the noun takes the preposition 'to' rather than 'for'.