disaster

disaster
[[t]dɪzɑ͟ːstə(r), -zæ̱s-[/t]]
♦♦♦
disasters
1) N-COUNT A disaster is a very bad accident such as an earthquake or a plane crash, especially one in which a lot of people are killed.

It was the second air disaster in the region in less than two months...

Many had lost all in the disaster and were destitute.

Syn:
2) N-COUNT (emphasis) If you refer to something as a disaster, you are emphasizing that you think it is extremely bad or unacceptable.

The whole production was just a disaster!...

It would be a disaster for them not to reach the semi-finals...

`This tax is a disaster waiting to happen,' said an angry Tory backbencher.

Syn:
3) N-UNCOUNT Disaster is something which has very bad consequences for you.

The government brought itself to the brink of fiscal disaster...

`The potential for disaster is enormous,' he says.

Syn:
4) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you say that something is a recipe for disaster, you mean that it is very likely to have unpleasant consequences.

English dictionary. 2008.

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

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  • disaster — di‧sas‧ter [dɪˈzɑːstə ǁ dɪˈzæstər] noun [countable, uncountable] 1. a sudden event such as a flood, storm, or accident which causes great damage or suffering: • 100 people died in the mining disaster. • Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural… …   Financial and business terms

  • disaster — disaster, calamity, catastrophe, cataclysm are comparable when they denote an event or situation that is regarded as a terrible misfortune. A disaster is an unforeseen mischance or misadventure (as a shipwreck, a serious railroad accident, or the …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Disaster — Dis*as ter, n. [F. d[ e]sastre; pref. d[ e]s (L. dis ) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See {Aster}, {Astral}, {Star}.] 1. An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • disaster — I noun adversity, affliction, bale, bane, blight, blunder, breakdown, brutum fulmen, calamitas, calamity, casualty, cataclysm, catastrophe, clades, collapse, contretemps, crushing reverse, deabacle, devastation, downfall, emergency, extremity,… …   Law dictionary

  • disaster — [di zas′tər, dizäs′tər; ] also [ dis as′tər, disäs′tər] n. [OFr desastre < It disastro < L dis + astrum < Gr astron (see ASTRAL), star: from astrological notions: cf. ILL STARRED] any happening that causes great harm or damage; serious… …   English World dictionary

  • Disaster — Dis*as ter, v. t. 1. To blast by the influence of a baleful star. [Obs.] Sir P. Sidney. [1913 Webster] 2. To bring harm upon; to injure. [R.] Thomson. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • disaster — 1590s, from M.Fr. désastre (1560s), from It. disastro ill starred, from dis , here merely pejorative (see DIS (Cf. dis )) + astro star, planet, from L. astrum, from Gk. astron (see STAR (Cf. star)). The sense is astrological, of a calamity blamed …   Etymology dictionary

  • disaster — [n] accident, trouble act of God*, adversity, affliction, bad luck, bad news*, bale, bane, blight, blow, bust, calamity, casualty, cataclysm, catastrophe, collapse, collision, crash, debacle, defeat, depression, emergency, exigency, failure, fall …   New thesaurus

  • disaster — ► NOUN 1) a sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of life. 2) an event or fact leading to ruin or failure. ORIGIN Italian disastro ill starred event , from Latin astrum star …   English terms dictionary

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