threatenedadj.

1533 Lady Wheathell in M. A. E. Wood Lett. Royal & Illustrious Ladies (1846) (modernized text) II. 91 There is an old saying,—‘threatened men live long’.

a1642 W. Monson Naval Tracts (1704) ii. 287/1 It is an old Saying, That a threaten'd Man eats Bread.

1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xx. 401 He took his post near Louvain, on the road between the two threatened cities.

1894 Westm. Gaz. 27 Nov. 5/3 The best-hated and the most threatened man in Germany.

1960 Oryx 5 381 (heading) Australia's threatened mammals.

1966 Red Data Bk. II. 2 The object of these lists and sheets of threatened species is not only to draw universal attention to the dangers facing some unique creatures,..but also to provide the factual information necessary for action.

1972 Red Data Bk. (new ed.) I. Preamble 1 The threatened species include those that are in immediate danger of extinction (endangered species), those that are likely to enter this category (vunerable species), and those that are rare and at risk (rare species).

1976 New Yorker 12 Jan. 58 Seven hundred and sixty-one plants were designated as ‘endangered’, meaning their survival was in serious doubt, twelve hundred and thirty-eight were listed as ‘threatened’ and an even one hundred were declared extinct.

1979 Birds Summer 56/1 The most authoritative and comprehensive reference book published on the world's rare, endangered and threatened birds.

1979 Red Data Bk. (ed. 2) II. Preamble 3 Endangered (E)..Taxa in danger of extinction and whose survival is unlikely if the causal factors continue operating... Vulnerable (V)..Taxa believed likely to move into the endangered category in the near future if the causal factors continue operating... Rare (R)..Taxa with small world populations that are not at present endangered or vulnerable, but are at risk... A taxon at subspecific level which might qualify for the V..category has not been included if no other subspecies of the species concerned is in a threatened (E, V, R or I) category.