Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Widespread destruction; devastation.
- n. Disorder or chaos: a wild party that created havoc in the house.
- v. To destroy or pillage.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An early Middle English form of hawk, surviving till later times in the phrase to cry havoc.
- n. General and relentless destruction.
- n. To shout for the beginning or the continuation of a work of indiscriminate destruction or rapine.
- To work general destruction upon; devastate; destroy; lay waste.
Wiktionary
- n. devastation, destruction
- n. mayhem
- v. To pillage.
- v. To cause havoc.
- interj. A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste.
- v. To devastate; to destroy; to lay waste.
- interj. A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.
WordNet 3.0
- n. violent and needless disturbance
Etymologies
- Middle English havok, from Anglo-Norman (crier) havok, (to cry) havoc, variant of Old French havot, plundering, of Germanic origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The threat of the havoc is more bark than bite, though; although we see some of the effects of the fast burn, they are somewhat downplayed in favor of Constance's relationships with he mother and her partner, Andy.”
REVIEW: The Year's Best Science Fiction #25 edited by Gardner Dozois
“Things are tearing apart all over the places, bloody havoc is being committed, the planet's coming apart at the seams ... and this inspires hair-tearing and chest-beating and rending of garments across the land?”
And now it's no more Open Source Boobs, it's the Miley Cyrus In A Bedsheet Show!
“Mr. Brooks seems to think that the reason the insurgents are causing such havoc is because the majority of Americans now see that its a disaster.”
“How fatal the consequences are! the hireling fancies the sheep may look to themselves, but it does not prove so: the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep, and woeful havoc is made of the flock, which will all be charged upon the treacherous shepherd.”
“Attempts to reign in spending will likely lead to higher unemployment and may raise winds of deflationary pressure that will wreak long-term havoc to the economy.”
“These types of fears have caused short-term havoc with the shares price in the past but the core earnings just keep chugging along on their upward path.”
“Props 1A-1F must be defeated, because they would wreak long-term havoc on the state.”
“he played collegiately at Villanova to craft a Hall-of-Fame career in Hollywood, playing 12 of his 13 seasons with the Raiders in L.A. Long was able to cause havoc from the defensive tackle spot while employing his quick and slippery moves off the line.”
“With Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) now firmly installed as Eureka’s sheriff, there’s still much he doesn’t know about the goings-on at top secret research facility Global Dynamics, but each time havoc is unleashed it usually leads Carter back to the lab.”
“The shear number of fines GE has paid (all minuscule when compared to the company’s income) relating to environmental havoc is staggering.”
“Consolidating Information and the Doctrine of Insatiable Greed” | Disinformation
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘havoc’.
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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fight
words for fighting
( open list, randomness )bout, fight, match, smackdown, blue, stoush, battle, clash, fuss, fray, ruckus, tussle and 115 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Ends with C but not with "-ic"
bloc, roc, arc, orc, disc, sac, xebec, havoc, bivouac, sumac, maniac, insomniac and 418 more...
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Situation Normal
inspired by Mistakes Were Made. Words for things going wrong in a manner particularly violent, stupid, soul-crushing, boggling, grandiose, or any combination of these qualities.
writeoff, wreck, bust, washout, turkey, untergang, undoing, total loss, flop, muck up, louse-up, goof-up and 156 more...
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Hunting cries
tantara, yoicks, tantivy, tallyho, chivvy, hoics, tally-ho, chivy, chevy, soho, hue, halloo and 15 more...
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October Words-11337
During the month of October, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has a...
amplification, till, osmosis, osmoregulation, pinocytosis, junction, transduction, paralysis, afflicted, isotonic, diverse, entrenched and 48 more...
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List 2(starting at 260)
mammoth, overt, valor, aspire, relegate, bias, incisive, scurry, precipitate, singular, inveigh, repulse and 48 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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November Words 11849
kami, nighongi, tenrikyo, gagaku, izanami, analects, shu, xigo-filial, tora, izanagi, russet, warden and 8 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, replete, steeped, eminent, perceive, intrepid, compound, automaton, reticent, interminable, drudgery and 288 more...
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GCI
spinster, maiden, happy-go-lucky, homonym, ill-at-ease, saw red, out of sorts, hot under the collar, taken aback, pen-names, alias, shoelaces and 378 more...
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SoSheShall's list
slurp, coeur, slurple, glop, perp, fluarxx, ropechno, herrherr, burrduhherrherr, sloppy, cheezie balls, eccentric and 634 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for havoc.
actung "An ancient hunting or war cry." http://books.google.com/books?id=cIIVAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22hunting%20cry%22%20century%20dictionary&pg=PA418#v=onepage&q=hunting&f=false Jun 11, 2012
yarb Cry havoc and let slip the cherry blossom. Mar 20, 2012
ruzuzu Wow. Sounds like those late bloomers will decimate the tourist trade. Mar 20, 2012
yarb 'Vancouver's iconic cherry blossom festival could also be hit by a lagging spring.
"The really early cherries flower normally, but the ones that would normally come out, say the first of April, come out a week or two later," Justice said. "And everything gets pushed back.
"That creates havoc because the cherry blossom festival is essentially the month of April."'
- Spring brings more cold, snow and rain, Vancouversun.com, 20-03-12. Mar 20, 2012
agustinolvera Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer pg. 245
"His spirit army and wreaked havoc on the intruders." Dec 2, 2010
Alexis Perez General distruction: The hurricane wrecked hevok in central Fl. (newbuery house dic) Oct 30, 2010
chained_bear "carnage, desperate slaughter."
I always think of the quotation in SoG's comment, below. Oct 9, 2008
ofravens Plath citations: see note at blight. Mar 26, 2008
sonofgroucho "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war." Dec 18, 2006