From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishperilper‧il /ˈperəl/ ●○○ noun 1 [uncountable] literary or formalDANGEROUS great danger, especially of being harmed or killedin peril They put their own lives in peril to rescue their friends.great/grave/serious peril The economy is now in grave peril. a voyage that was fraught with peril (=full of danger)2 DANGEROUS[countable usually plural] literary or formal a danger or problem in a particular activity or situation the perils posed by mountaineeringperil of the perils of the sea3 → do something at your peril
Examples from the Corpus
peril• Great perils lay before them, and some of them paid with their lives for drinking that peerless elixir.• But Lugar calls nuclear terror the greatest peril of our age.• His playoff streak is in peril this season.• Mourning can have a therapeutic function that we ignore at our peril.• Similarly, lessons from across the world show that early warning signs of conflict are ignored at our peril.• The differences exist, and we remain ignorant of them at our peril.• Elizabeth continued reading her latest library book, oblivious to my possible peril.• None of us who set off on that calm September morning could have foreseen the perils that lay ahead.• the perils of a life at sea• Into this potent politicization of what remained, at heart, a medical mystery, scientists ventured at their peril.in peril• With food supplies exhausted, two million people are in peril of starving.From Longman Business Dictionaryperilper‧il /ˈperəl/ noun [countable]INSURANCE an event such as a fire which might cause loss and which you can insure againstUnder this policy, guns and firearms are covered for standard perils.Origin peril (1200-1300) Old French Latin periculum 