From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmenacemen‧ace1 /ˈmenɪs/ ●○○ noun 1 [countable]DANGEROUS something or someone that is dangerous SYN threatmenace of It’s the only way to deal with the menace of drug dealing.menace to That man’s a menace to society. He should be locked away. the growing menace of oil pollution at sea2 [uncountable]THREATEN a threatening quality, feeling, or way of behaving There was menace in his voice.air/sense of menace There was a sense of menace as the sky grew darker.3 [countable]ANNOY a person, especially a child, who is annoying or causes trouble SYN nuisance My little brother’s a real menace.4 → with menaces
Examples from the Corpus
menace• A menace from the dead girl hung over her father in this hour of triumph.• He heard himself chuckling, but the sound was rich with contempt and menace.• Her manner suddenly changed from friendliness and warmth to one of faint menace.• They would depart in the spring, to avoid the malarial menace of the later seasons.• His voice was soft but his tone and expression were full of menace.• You can not build a fair system on that stinking swamp of menace and malice and neglect.• He was the first to identify drugs as the number one menace to domestic security.• The dailies pictured Azusa Street in tones of amusement or menace.• Tuami and his people have escaped from the perceived menace of Neanderthal man, whose humanity they do not recognise.• Despite all the menace, nobody dies.• His eyes blazed with menace.growing menace• A growing menace in Verdon is the determination of many climbers to lower down a pitch and then be top-roped up it.• After the war MI5 turned its attention to the growing menace of Bolshevism which the government feared would soon engulf the country.air/sense of menace• There was a sense of menace as the snow fell heavier and the wind blew rope out across the face.• His carefully chosen materials created an air of menace even without the denunciatory graffiti.• He had learned to live with its many secrets and its brooding sense of menace.• A larger block, perhaps an altar or sarcophagus, crouched in the centre with a strangely organic air of menace.• The sense of menace was strong.• The boat's wrap-around windscreens were made of black polarised glass which only added to Dream Baby's ugly air of menace.menacemenace2 verb [transitive] formalTHREATEN to threaten The elephants are still menaced by poachers.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
menace• The mask made him seem menacing, and she suddenly had the sensation that with Lucenzo she was playing with fire.• She was afraid to move; on all sides she was menaced by the half-open doors of empty rooms.• The whole community has been living in fear for far too long, menaced equally by both sets of paramilitaries.• Circuits in computers and other control instrumentation can likewise act as unintended receivers, menacing the operation of whole manufacturing plants.From Longman Business Dictionarymenacemen‧ace /ˈmenɪs/ noun [countable] something that is dangerousMany people think that overseas competition is the biggest menace to the industry.Origin menace1 (1300-1400) French Latin minacia, from minari “to threaten” 