jeopardize their lives

USAGE SUMMARY

"jeopardize their lives" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to a situation that puts someone's life at risk. Example sentence: The victims were forced to take a dangerous route across the mountains which could potentially jeopardize their lives.

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

9 human-written examples

"We cannot let our people jeopardize their lives," Mr. Hassan said.

The New York Times

Women will jeopardize their lives to end an unwanted, ill-timed pregnancy.

The New York Times

"You do what you can to prevent tragedies," he said, "but unfortunately, people simply motivated by the desire to cool off can jeopardize their lives.

The New York Times

As he's done before, Mr. le Carré borrows a trick from Hitchcock to put his story in play, plopping two innocents into a deadly, high-stakes game that will jeopardize their lives.

The New York Times - Books

This does not mean that officers are required to jeopardize their lives, and in many cases the wisest action is simply to pay close attention, call for help or render aid.

The New York Times

Therefore, I answer the question, "why people are willing to jeopardize their lives to go abroad and live in an underground economy?" More precisely, I compare potential legal and illegal migrants and focus on the role that expectations, migrant networks and migration policies have on the probability to take an illegal journey.

IZA Journal of Migration

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

51 human-written examples

Fear of jeopardizing their lives in this country often runs deeper than the need for help with caring for their children.

The New York Times

The programs had to be clandestine: The foreigners involved usually could not have operated with open U.S. funding without jeopardizing their lives, their families or their reputations.

The Washington Post

"Many shark populations have declined by more than 90percentt over the last 40 years; posing with sharks on land for photographs needlessly jeopardizes their lives and well-being".

Huffington Post

Without Medicaid's strong protections, coverage guarantee, and comprehensive, age-appropriate health and mental health coverage, millions of children would be uninsured or underinsured, jeopardizing their lives, academic performance and futures and increasing short and long term costs for states and local communities.

HuffPost

And on Friday, Chairman Issa in the House, on the Republican side, released a ream of documents that he asked for, that included the names of people on the ground in Libya who are cooperating with us and helping us on these security issues, jeopardizing their lives, carelessly, recklessly putting them at risk, all to score political points in the final weeks before an election.

Huffington Post

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "jeopardize their lives", ensure the context clearly indicates a significant risk to life, not just general inconvenience or minor danger. For example, "forcing refugees to cross the desert will "jeopardize their lives"".

Common error

Avoid using "jeopardize their lives" when the situation involves only minor risks or inconveniences. Reserve this phrase for situations where there's a real and substantial threat of death or serious harm.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "jeopardize their lives" functions as a verb phrase, where 'jeopardize' is the verb and 'their lives' is the object. The Ludwig AI confirms its correct and usable form. Its function is to describe an action that puts someone in a dangerous or life-threatening situation.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

News & Media

70%

Science

15%

Formal & Business

10%

Less common in

Academia

5%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "jeopardize their lives" is a grammatically sound phrase used to describe situations where someone's life is at serious risk. As Ludwig AI confirms, it's appropriate for various contexts, particularly in news, science, and formal business settings. While semantically similar phrases like "endanger their lives" or "put their lives at risk" can be used, it's essential to reserve "jeopardize their lives" for situations involving significant danger to avoid overstating the risk. The phrase is most frequently found in news and media sources, and its purpose is typically to express concern or warn about potential threats.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

endanger their lives

Focuses specifically on putting lives at risk, maintaining a high degree of semantic similarity.

put their lives at risk

Emphasizes the action of placing lives in a dangerous situation, similar in meaning but slightly more descriptive.

threaten their lives

Highlights the presence of a threat to life, changing the focus from the act of jeopardizing to the existence of danger.

imperil their lives

A more formal synonym for "endanger", adding a degree of intensity and sophistication to the expression.

compromise their safety

Shifts the focus to overall safety rather than just life, broadening the scope of the potential harm.

risk their well-being

Broadens the scope to include overall well-being, not just the immediate threat to life.

jeopardize their existence

Focuses on the continuation of their existence, which is conceptually similar, but less common.

put them in harm's way

An idiomatic expression meaning to expose someone to danger, less direct than "jeopardize their lives".

jeopardize their health

Changes the focus to health rather than life, indicating a different type of potential harm.

place their futures in jeopardy

Shifts the focus to the future prospects rather than immediate physical danger, altering the context significantly.

FAQs

What does "jeopardize their lives" mean?

To "jeopardize their lives" means to put someone in a situation where their life is in danger or at serious risk. It implies a significant threat to their well-being and existence.

What are some alternatives to saying "jeopardize their lives"?

You can use alternatives like "endanger their lives", "put their lives at risk", or "threaten their lives", depending on the specific nuance you want to convey.

When is it appropriate to use the phrase "jeopardize their lives"?

It's appropriate when describing situations involving a high level of danger or risk that could realistically lead to death or serious harm. Avoid using it for minor inconveniences or slight risks.

How is "jeopardize their safety" different from "jeopardize their lives"?

"Jeopardize their safety" is a broader term that implies putting someone at risk of harm, which could include physical injury, emotional distress, or other forms of danger. "Jeopardize their lives" specifically refers to putting someone at risk of death.