disaster

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He also stated in the August 1989 interim report: "The main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control."

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Definitions (15)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun An occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress; a catastrophe.
  2. noun A grave misfortune.
  3. noun Informal A total failure: The dinner party was a disaster.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • Practically all our out-of-town customers wrote us, and to their kindly expressions of regret for our disaster was added the hope that we would continue in business, and promises of hearty support in the matter of sending us their orders With our competitors it was different. —  The Romance and Tragedy
  • He also stated in the August 1989 interim report: "The main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control." —  Belfasttelegraph.co.uk - Frontpage RSS Feed
  • Childs, who has written "Prepare for the Worst, Plan for the Best," a guide to disaster planning for small business, noted that many of the problems that occur in a disaster are also ones that could happen in the best of times. —  Latest News
  • Recovering from a disaster is usually a gradual process. —  The Bahama Journal - Bahamas News Headlines
  • Hsu said one of the classical features of a disaster is a narrow area that most of the crowd is heading toward. —  Disaster News Network
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

catastrophe ·  calamity ·  failure ·  defeat ·  crisis ·  accident ·  misery ·  destruction ·  danger ·  conflict ·  injury ·  revolution

Used in the same contextWord Family

disaster:   disasters
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French désastre, from Italian disastro : dis-, pejorative pref. (from Latin dis-; see dis-) + astro, star (from Latin astrum, from Greek astron; see ster-3 in Indo-European roots).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Old French desastre, French désastre = Provencal desastre = Spanish Portuguese desastre = Italian disastro, disaster, misfortune, from Latin dis-, here equivalent to English mis-, ill, + astrum (later Italian Spanish Portuguese astro = Provencal F. astre), a star (taken in the astrological sense of ‘destiny, fortune, fate’: cf. Middle Latin astrum sinistrum, misfortune, literally unlucky star; Provencal benastre, good fortune, malastre, ill fortune; G. unstern, ‘evil star’; English ill-starred, etc.), from Gr.ἂστρον, a star: see aster.
  2. from disaster, n.
 

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/dɪˈzæstər/
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