hazard

Etymology

From Middle English hasard, from Old French hasart (“a game of dice”) (noun), hasarder (verb), from Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, “the dice”). Compare Spanish azar, Portuguese azar.

noun

1. The chance of suffering harm; danger, peril, risk of loss.
   He encountered the enemy at the hazard of his reputation and life.
   Men are led on from one stage of life to another in a condition of the utmost hazard. a. 1729, John Rogers, The Difficulties of Obtaining Salvation
   Why, now, blow wind, swell billow, and swim bark! The storm is up and all is on the hazard. 1599, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
   He then launched forth into a panegyric on Allworthy's goodness; into the highest encomiums on his friendship; and concluded by saying, he should never forgive his brother for having put the place which he bore in that friendship to a hazard. 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
   If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the ever more expensive and then universally known killing hazards of gasoline cars: […]. 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion
   Quite apart from the gruesome road hazards, snow is awful even when you don't have to travel. 2009-12-27, Barbara Ellen, The Guardian
2. An obstacle or other feature which causes risk or danger; originally in sports, and now applied more generally.
   The video game involves guiding a character on a skateboard past all kinds of hazards.
3. (in driving a vehicle) An obstacle or other feature that presents a risk or danger that justifies the driver in taking action to avoid it.
   Risk behavior in driving consists in hazard detection, threat appraisal, action selection and implementation. Hazard perception tests often include the task to react quickly to hazards within traffic scenarios. 2014, Neville Stanton et al., Advances in Human Aspects of Transportation: Part III
4. (golf) A sand or water obstacle on a golf course.
5. (billiards) The act of potting a ball, whether the object ball (winning hazard) or the player's ball (losing hazard).
6. (historical) A game of chance played with dice, usually for monetary stakes; popular mainly from 14th c. to 19th c.
   [T]here's Harry diets himself—for gaming and is now under a hazard Regimen. 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, III.iii
   Hazard at the clubs and in fashionable society was conducted with all decorum. It was unfashionable and unpardonable to show any display of feeling at losses or gains. 1901, William Biggs Boulton, The Amusements of Old London, volume I, London: John C. Nimmo, page 139
   Anne found the gaming room where mostly older people were seated at card tables. She realized then that, of course, no one was playing hazard. Dice games were technically illegal, and certainly improper. Gambling was illegal, but no one paid attention to that. Most people were playing whist for penny points. 2002, Jo Beverley, Hazard
7. Chance.
   I will stand the hazard of the die. c. 1597, William Shakespeare, Richard III, act 5, scene 4
   I see animated movies are now managing, by hazard or design, to reflect our contemporary reality more accurately than live-action movies. 2006-05-20, John Patterson, The Guardian
8. (obsolete) Anything that is hazarded or risked, such as a stake in gambling.
   But if you please To shoot another arrow that self way Which you did shoot the first, I do not doubt, As I will watch the aim, or to find both Or bring your latter hazard back again c. 1600, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
9. (tennis) The side of the court into which the ball is served.
10. (programming) A problem with the instruction pipeline in CPU microarchitectures when the next instruction cannot execute in the following clock cycle, potentially leading to incorrect results.

verb

1. To expose to chance; to take a risk.
   to be consistent, you ought to be a Chriſtian in temper and practice; for you hazard nothing by a course of evangelical obedience a. 1676, John Clarke, Excuses of the Irreligious
2. To risk (something); to venture, incur, or bring on.
   I'll hazard a guess.