harm

1 noun (U)

1 damage, injury, or trouble caused by someone's actions or by an event: do harm to: Modern farming methods have done considerable harm to the countryside. | do more harm than good (=cause even more problems rather than improving the situation): Criticizing people's work often does more harm than good. | where's the harm in that? spoken (=used when you think that something seems a reasonable thing to do) | no harm done spoken (=used to tell someone not to worry aobut something they have done)

2 come to no harm/not come to any harm to not be hurt or damaged: She was relieved to see the children had come to no harm.

3 mean no harm/not mean any harm to have no intention of hurting or upsetting anyone: He doesn't mean any harm - he's only joking.

4 it does no harm to do sth/there's no harm in doing sth used to suggest that someone should do something: It does no harm to ask. | There's no harm in trying.

5 it wouldn't do sb any harm to do sth used to suggest that someone should do something that may be helpful or useful: It would do you no harm to get some experience first.

6 out of harm's way

a) in a safe place

b) if something dangerous is out of harm's way, it is in a place where it is unable to hurt anyone or damage anything

—compare hurt 3, —see also: grievous bodily harm 2 verb (T)

1 to damage something: Too much direct sunlight will harm the plant.

2 harm sb's image/reputation to make people have a worse opinion of a person or group

3 to hurt someone: The dogs look fierce, but they wouldn't harm anyone.