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Definition of "risk" []

  • The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger. (noun)
  • A factor, thing, element, or course involving uncertain danger; a hazard: "the usual risks of the desert: rattlesnakes, the heat, and lack of water” ( Frank Clancy). (noun)
  • The danger or probability of loss to an insurer. (noun)
  • The amount that an insurance company stands to lose. (noun)
  • The variability of returns from an investment. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "risk" in a sentence
  • "Read more about the risk factors for SIDS and take a look at the 7 things that reduce your baby's risk  (subscribers only)."
  • "As for me, a rough calculation of my risk factors showed that I was not at “intermediate risk” for heart disease, and therefore not a good candidate for a CT scan."
  • "And the more constant he is in his attendance at the sacred rite, the greater will be his risk; his _risk_, I say; that is, if he neglects to be jealous over himself, to watch himself narrowly, and to condemn and hate in himself the faintest risings of coldness and irreverence; for, of course, if he so acts, the less will be his risk, and the greater will be his security that his heart will not betray him."