damage
Americannoun
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injury or harm that reduces value or usefulness.
The storm did considerable damage to the crops.
- Synonyms:
- loss
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Law. damages, the estimated money equivalent for detriment or injury sustained.
-
Informal. Often damages. cost; expense; charge.
What are the damages for the lubrication job on my car?
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
injury or harm impairing the function or condition of a person or thing
-
loss of something desirable
-
informal cost; expense (esp in the phrase what's the damage? )
verb
-
(tr) to cause damage to
-
(intr) to suffer damage
Related Words
Damage, detriment, harm, mischief refer to injuries of various kinds. Damage is the kind of injury or the effect of injury that directly impairs appearance, value, usefulness, soundness, etc.: Fire causes damage to property. Detriment is a falling off from an original condition as the result of damage, depreciation, devaluation, etc.: Overeating is a detriment to health. Harm may denote either physical hurt or mental, moral, or spiritual injury: bodily harm; harm to one's self-confidence. Mischief may be damage, harm, trouble, or misfortune caused by a person, especially if maliciously: an enemy who would do one mischief.
Other Word Forms
- damageability noun
- damageable adjective
- damageableness noun
- damager noun
- damaging adjective
- damagingly adverb
- nondamageable adjective
- predamage noun
- quasi-damaged adjective
- redamage verb (used with object)
- undamageable adjective
- undamaged adjective
Etymology
Origin of damage
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, equivalent to dam (from Latin damnum “damage, fine”) + -age -age; damn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Julie says she felt "disbelief that a storm could have caused so much damage, especially when the trees were ripped out of the ground".
From BBC
Glover is being sued for an unspecified amount of damages over allegations of battery, fraud and wrongful eviction, among other counts.
From Los Angeles Times
But an upbeat day for software stocks and other areas of the S&P 500 weren’t enough to offset the damage from Big Tech.
From MarketWatch
For 10 years — and counting — lawyers and judges have attempted to determine what claimants are due and whether Pacquiao in particular suffered reputational damage along the way.
From Los Angeles Times
The accord was criticised by the EU which said it could cause "irreversible" damage to the dwindling North Atlantic mackerel population.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
