casualty

American  

[kazh-oo-uhl-tee] / ˈkæʒ u əl ti /

noun

• casualties
  plural

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.

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casualty British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• casualties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of casualty

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

Explanation

In wartime, you'll hear the word casualty used often for someone killed or injured. But casualty can also refer to deaths or injuries suffered in an accident or some other unfortunate event. The term "casualties of war" has been around for a while and refers to the ugly downside of military victory. Anyone who loses life or limb, either in the fighting or as a civilian, is called a casualty. You can also use this word figuratively: if a local elementary school loses funding for their art classes and after-school activities, you can say that the students are casualties of budget cuts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

casualty casualties

Investors in Aschenbrenner’s funds were not the only casualty of July’s volatility.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

The market share of traditional carmakers is the big casualty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

This summer’s Northern Hemisphere heat wave has been a mass casualty event, on a par with the recent earthquakes in Venezuela.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

Former Arsenal midfielder and Wales captain Aaron Ramsey applies a tourniquet, while ex-Chelsea and Argentina goalkeeper Willy Caballero comforts the casualty.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

“I was wounded in the battle and taken to a casualty clearing station,” trooper Walter Becklade of the Fifth Cavalry Brigade recorded.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

A “low-key” campaign will mitigate the threat of dwindling supplies and high casualties, without necessarily providing Trump with a path to victory, said Stephen Biddle, a professor of international and public policy at Columbia University.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Authorities have not reported any casualties, but said tsunami waves between 19 and 30 centimetres have been detected.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

One half would be kept with the soldier, while the other would be sent to German army authorities, which tracked German military casualties and would notify relatives of soldiers' deaths.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

There were no immediate reports of casualties among the passengers and crew, with at least 114 people on board, according to the manifest.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

In three months the British suffered three hundred thousand casualties.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• blow
• calamity
• catastrophe
• disaster
• mishap