casualty

[kazh-oo-uhl-tee]

noun

plural

casualties 

1. Military.

   1. a member of the armed forces lost to service through death, wounds, sickness, capture, or because their whereabouts or condition cannot be determined.

   2. casualties, loss in numerical strength through any cause, as death, wounds, sickness, capture, or desertion.

2. one who is injured or killed in an accident.

   There were no casualties in the traffic accident.

3. any person, group, thing, etc., that is harmed or destroyed as a result of some act or event.

   Their house was a casualty of the fire.

4. a serious accident, especially one involving bodily injury or death.

casualty

/ ˈkæʒjʊəltɪ /

noun

1. a serviceman who is killed, wounded, captured, or missing as a result of enemy action

2. a person who is injured or killed in an accident

3. a hospital department in which victims of accidents, violence, etc, are treated

4. anything that is lost, damaged, or destroyed as the result of an accident, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of casualty¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; casual + -ty ²; replacing late Middle English casuelte, equivalent to casuel ( casual ) + -te -ty ²

Example Sentences

Online communication has already caused its first casualty among traditional postal services: Denmark recently ended its letter deliveries service, PostNord.

From BBC

In a statement, al-Shabab said it released "all the Muslim prisoners" from the facility and inflicted heavy casualties on those guarding the centre.

From BBC

Four people were killed, bringing the total number of casualties from all four strikes to 21.

From Salon

But in imposing curfews and dismissing UN casualty reports, the government could be signalling that it may double down on repression rather than compromise.

From BBC

One Civil Defence member said on social media that the casualties included children, and posted a video of a severely injured boy lying on a hospital bed frame.

From BBC

Related Words

• blow 
• calamity 
• catastrophe 
• disaster 
• mishap