Definition of "threat"

There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats.

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene iii]

At the height of the crisis, according to a retired SAC wing commander, SAC airborne alert bombers deliberately flew past their turnaround points toward Soviet airspace, an unambiguous threat which Soviet radar operators would certainly have recognized and reported. "I knew what my target was," the SAC general adds: "Leningrad." The bombers only turned around when the Soviet freighters carrying missiles to Cuba stopped dead in the Atlantic.

1995, Richard Rhodes, “Scorpions in a Bottle”, in Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb‎, New York: Simon & Schuster, page 575

Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.

2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3

Rooney's United team-mate Chris Smalling was given his debut at right-back and was able to adjust to the international stage in relatively relaxed fashion as Bulgaria barely posed a threat of any consequence.

2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC

Japan applauds NATO’s identification of China as a threat in the Strategic Concept. The document notes that China poses “systemic challenges” and declared the “deepening strategic partnership” between Moscow and Beijing as one of its main priorities. Significantly, it explained that developments in distant theaters can “directly affect” trans-Atlantic security.

2022 July 1, The Japan Times Editorial Board, “Groundbreaking NATO summit means work for Japan”, in The Japan Times‎, archived from the original on 01 July 2022, Editorials

An hideous Geant horrible and hye, / That with his talnesse seemd to threat the skye […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie

O yes, and soundless too; / For you have stolen their buzzing, Antony, / And very wisely threat before you sting.

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i], line 37