damage control

American  

noun

1. a department or group, as aboard a naval vessel, responsible for taking action to control damage caused by fire, collision, etc.

2. any efforts, as by a company, to curtail losses, counteract unfavorable publicity, etc.

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damage control Idioms  

1. Measures to minimize or curtail loss or harm. For example, As soon as they discovered the leak to the press, the senator's office worked night and day on damage control. Used literally since the 1950s, specifically for limiting the effect of an accident on a ship, this term began to be used figuratively in the 1970s.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• damage-control
  adjective

Example Sentences

The next week, Gates’s nuclear power company TerraPower was engaging in its own form of reputational damage control.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026

Is there any damage control that can be done?

From Slate • May 7, 2026

Whittlesey said he suspects that the combination of flood-control requirements and damage control after the pipe failure is likely costing them tens of thousands of acre-feet of snowmelt.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026

The fire prompted a major damage control response, with sailors working for hours to contain the blaze and ensure it had not spread to other parts of the ship, officials said.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

In private Oval Office meetings, Nixon, Bob Haldeman, and John Ehrlichman discussed options for damage control.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin