damages
Britishplural noun
Explanation
Damages are the official amount of money awarded to the winner in a law suit. If you're hurt in a car accident that's another driver's fault, you may end up collecting damages. The legal term damages usually refers to money that's owed or received to compensate someone for a loss or an injury. If a business owner's negligence — not clearing ice from a sidewalk, for example — causes you to be injured, you can sue her for damages to pay for your broken arm and the days of work you had to miss. Sometimes a court awards "punitive damages" as well, which are specifically intended to punish the defendant.
Vocabulary lists containing damages
The Skin I'm In
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Hitler Youth
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City of the Plague God
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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.
Afram and his production company sued Netflix last month for at least $105 million in economic damages for the missing drive that contained “Fortitude,” a movie starring Cage and Sir Ben Kingsley.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Legal scholars have debated whether surrogates should pay legal damages if they fail to honor a contractual abortion provision, surrender payments remaining on the contract, or even pay back money they already received.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
Despite the common belief that running damages the knees, running can be part of an active lifestyle aimed at lowering osteoarthritis risk.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
CK Hutchison launched international arbitration against Panama, seeking over $1.5 billion in damages for the destruction of its port investments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
“About those Incorrigibles—no loss of property? No damages to the wolf children? I’ve still got three of them, what?”
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
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.
