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.
It does not seek damages from the singer herself or her co-writers Bastian Langebæk and Max Wolfgang.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
One names the United States and seeks damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging wrongful death, negligence and other misconduct.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Alzheimer's disease gradually damages memory, thinking, and behavior and affects more than 7 million older adults in the United States.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
The court dismissed appeals from hedge funds seeking damages from the company’s failed takeover bid for Volkswagen in 2008.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
The iron damages the left hemisphere more than the right, the front of the frontal cortex more than the back, the underside more than the top.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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.
