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catastrophe

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catastrophe

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Catastrophe  \Ca*tas"tro*phe\,  n.  [L.  catastropha,  Gr  ?,  fr  ? 
  to  turn  up  and  down  to  overturn;  kata`  down  +  ?  to  turn.] 
  1.  An  event  producing  a  subversion  of  the  order  or  system  of 
  things  a  final  event,  usually  of  a  calamitous  or 
  disastrous  nature;  hence  sudden  calamity;  great 
  misfortune. 
 
  The  strange  catastrophe  of  affairs  now  at  London. 
  --Bp.  Burnet. 
 
  The  most  horrible  and  portentous  catastrophe  that 
  nature  ever  yet  saw.  --Woodward. 
 
  2.  The  final  event  in  a  romance  or  a  dramatic  piece;  a 
  denouement,  as  a  death  in  a  tragedy,  or  a  marriage  in  a 
  comedy. 
 
  3.  (Geol.)  A  violent  and  widely  extended  change  in  the 
  surface  of  the  earth,  as  an  elevation  or  subsidence  of 
  some  part  of  it  effected  by  internal  causes.  --Whewell. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  catastrophe 
  n  1:  an  event  resulting  in  great  loss  and  misfortune;  "the  whole 
  city  was  affected  by  the  irremediable  calamity";  "the 
  earthquake  was  a  disaster"  [syn:  {calamity},  {disaster}, 
  {tragedy},  {cataclysm}] 
  2:  a  state  of  extreme  (usually  irremediable)  ruin  and 
  misfortune;  "lack  of  funds  has  resulted  in  a  catastrophe 
  for  our  school  system";  "his  policies  were  a  disaster" 
  [syn:  {disaster}] 
  3:  a  sudden  violent  change  in  the  earth's  surface  [syn:  {cataclysm}]




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