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catastrophe

 
Dictionary: ca·tas·tro·phe   (kə-tăs'trə-fē) pronunciation
n.
  1. A great, often sudden calamity.
  2. A complete failure; a fiasco: The food was cold, the guests quarreled-the whole dinner was a catastrophe.
  3. The concluding action of a drama, especially a classical tragedy, following the climax and containing a resolution of the plot.
  4. A sudden violent change in the earth's surface; a cataclysm.

[Greek katastrophē, an overturning, ruin, conclusion, from katastrephein, to ruin, undo : kata-, cata- + strephein, to turn.]


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Thesaurus: catastrophe
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noun

    An occurrence inflicting widespread destruction and distress: calamity, cataclysm, disaster, tragedy. See help/harm/harmless.

Antonyms: catastrophe
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n

Definition: calamity; unhappy conclusion
Antonyms: benefit, blessing, favor, good fortune, good luck, happiness, miracle, success, wonder


Literary Dictionary: catastrophe
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catastrophe, the final resolution or dénouement of the plot in a tragedy, usually involving the death of the protagonist.

Word Tutor: catastrophe
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Any great and sudden misfortune or calamity.

pronunciation Most of us would rather risk catastrophe than read the directions. — Mignon McLaughlin.

Wikipedia: Catastrophe
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A catastrophe is an extremely large-scale disaster, a horrible event.

It may also refer to:

Catastrophic may refer to:

  • Catastrophic failure, complete failure of a system from which recovery is impossible (e.g. a bridge collapses)
  • Catastrophic, a difficulty rating in Dance Dance Revolution
  • Catastrophic, a metal band and side project of Obituary's guitarist Trevor Peres

Translations: Catastrophe
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - katastrofe

Nederlands (Dutch)
catastrofe

Français (French)
n. - catastrophe

Deutsch (German)
n. - Katastrophe

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - καταστροφή, όλεθρος

Italiano (Italian)
catastrofe

Português (Portuguese)
n. - catástrofe (m)

Русский (Russian)
катастрофа

Español (Spanish)
n. - catástrofe, desastre

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - katastrof, upplösning (dram.)

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
大灾难, 大祸

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大災難, 大禍

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 희곡의 대단원, 대이변, 파멸

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大災害, 大詰め, 悲劇的結末, 破局

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) كارثه, فاجعه, نكبه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אסון, שואה, קטסטרופה, התרת התסבוכת של דרמה, היפוך סדר הדברים, חורבן‬


Best of the Web: catastrophe
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Some good "catastrophe" pages on the web:


Math
mathworld.wolfram.com
 
 
 
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blow
debacle
catastrophic

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
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eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Catastrophe" Read more
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