venture, precariousness, slipperiness; instability &c 149;
defenselessness &c adj., exposure &c (liability) 177; vulnerability;
vulnerable point, heel of Achilles†; forlorn hope &c (hopelessness) 859.
[Dangerous course] leap in the dark &c (rashness) 863; road to
ruin, faciles descensus Averni [Lat.] [Vergil], hairbreadth escape.
cause for alarm; source of danger &c 667.
rock ahead [Approach of danger], breakers ahead; storm brewing;
clouds in the horizon, clouds gathering; warning &c 668; alarm &c 669.
[Sense of danger] apprehension &c 860.
V. be in danger &c adj.; be exposed to danger, run into danger, incur
danger, encounter danger &c n.; run a risk; lay oneself open to &c
(liability) 177; lean on a broken reed, trust to a broken reed; feel
the ground sliding from under one, have to run for it; have the chances
against one, have the odds against one, face long odds; be in deep
trouble, be between a rock and a hard place.
hang by a thread, totter; sleep on a volcano, stand on a volcano;
sit on a barrel of gunpowder, live in a glass house.
bring in danger, place in danger, put in danger, place in
jeopardy, put in jeopardy &c n.; endanger, expose to danger, imperil;
jeopard†, jeopardize; compromise; sail too near the wind &c (rash) 863.
adventure, risk, hazard, venture, stake, set at hazard; run the
gauntlet &c (dare) 861; engage in a forlorn hope.
threaten danger &c 909; run one hard; lay a trap for &c (deceive)
545.
Adj. in danger &c n.; endangered &c v.; fraught with danger; dangerous,
hazardous, perilous, parlous, periculous†; unsafe, unprotected &c (safe,
protect) &c 664; insecure.
untrustworthy; built upon.sand, on a sandy basis; wildcat.
defenseless, fenceless, guardless†, harborless; unshielded;
vulnerable, expugnable†, exposed; open to &c (liable) 177.
aux abois [Fr.], at bay; on the wrong side of the wall, on a lee
shore, on the rocks.
at stake, in question; precarious, critical, ticklish; slippery,
slippy; hanging by a thread &c v.; with a halter round one's neck;
between the hammer and the anvil, between Scylla and Charybdis, between
a rock and a hard place, between the devil and the deep blue sea,
between two fires; on the edge of a precipice, on the brink of a
precipice, on the verge of a precipice, on the edge of a volcano; in
the lion's den, on slippery ground, under fire; not out of the wood.
unwarned, unadmonished, unadvised, unprepared &c 674; off one's
guard &c (inexpectant) 508 [Obs.].
tottering; unstable, unsteady; shaky, top-heavy, tumbledown,
ramshackle, crumbling, waterlogged; helpless, guideless†; in a bad way;
reduced to the last extremity, at the last extremity; trembling in the
balance; nodding to its fall &c (destruction) 162.
threatening &c 909; ominous, illomened; alarming &c (fear) 860;
explosive.
adventurous &c (rash) 863, (bold) 861.
Phr. incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim [Lat.]; nam tua res
agitur paries dum proximus ardet [Lat.].