venture

noun

1. A risky or daring undertaking or journey.

   “My heart was beating finely when we two set forth in the cold night upon this dangerous venture.”

   “Other jobs which the governor entrusted to Ch'ao-tung dealt with the economic exploitation of the newly won mountain areas. In the Miao-li region, Ch'ao-tung headed an office for developing the petroleum resources discovered there.³⁸ Without much success during his tenure, the venture was later turned over to private entrepreneurs.”

2. An event that is not, or cannot be, foreseen.

   “A certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness.”

3. The thing risked; especially, something sent to sea in trade.

   “My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.”

verb

1. (transitive)To undertake a risky or daring journey.

   “who freights a ship to venture on the seas”

   “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: […]”

2. (transitive)To risk or offer.

   “to venture funds”

   “to venture a guess”

   “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

   “I am afraid; and yet I'll venture it.”

   “Till then they had only exchanged glances of the most casual but now under the brim of her new hat she ventured a look at him and the face that met her gaze there in the twilight, wan and strangely drawn, seemed to her the saddest she had ever seen.”

3. (intransitive)To dare to engage in; to attempt without any certainty of success.
4. (transitive)To put or send on a venture or chance.

   “to venture a horse to the West Indies”

5. (transitive)To confide in; to rely on; to trust.

   “A man would be well enough pleased to buy silks of one whom he would not venture to feel his pulse.”

6. (transitive)To say something; to offer an opinion.

   ““Unctuous is probably quite a good description, but there's a sweetness, too, and a mouthfeel,” ventures Heston Blumenthal, chef at the Fat Duck at Bray.”