intrigue
in·trigue1 /ɪnˈtriːɡ/ verb
- [transitive] if something intrigues you, it interests you a lot because it seems strange or mysterious:
- Other people’s houses always intrigued her.
- [intransitive] formal to make secret plans to harm someone or make them lose their position of power
- intrigue against
- While King Richard was abroad, the barons had been intriguing against him.
adversary
ad·ver·sa·ry /ˈædvəsəri $ ˈædvərseri/noun (plural adversaries) [countable]
- formal a country or person you are fighting or competing against SYN opponent:
ramification
ram·i·fi·ca·tion /ˌræməfəˈkeɪʃən, ˌræmɪfəˈkeɪʃən/ noun [countable usually plural] formal
an additional result of something you do, which may not have been clear when you first decided to do it → implications, implication:
- an agreement which was to have significant ramifications for British politics
- ramification of
- the practical ramifications of taking on a new job
- legal/political/economic etc ramifications
- the environmental ramifications of the road-building program
jeopardise
jeop·ar·dize (also jeopardise British English) /ˈdʒepədaɪz $ -ər-/ verb [transitive]
to risk losing or spoiling something important:
- large-scale military offensives which could jeopardize the UN peace process
precaution
pre·cau·tion /prɪˈkɔːʃən $ -ˈkɒː-/noun [countable usually plural]
- something you do in order to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening:
- Fire precautions were neglected.
- as a precaution
- The traffic barriers were put there as a safety precaution.
- precaution against
- Save your work often as a precaution against computer failure.
- wise/sensible precaution
- The trails are well marked, but carrying a map is a wise precaution.
- Vets took precautions to prevent the spread of the disease.
- take the precaution of doing something
- I took the precaution of insuring my camera.