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.
He can choose not to compound an energy shock with monetary restraint that damages capital formation and productivity growth exactly when the economy needs both.
From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Havana Docks did not own the property, but rather held a 99-year concession that expired in 2004 and was therefore not eligible to receive damages.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
In civil cases, average damages awarded by juries in federal courts have climbed sharply since 2020, while those awarded by judges have fluctuated without a pattern, according to an analysis by legal-analytics company Lex Machina.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
This is a mechanism for eventually potentially suing the government for damages caused by a federal employee.
From Slate • May 19, 2026
I’ve already asked Father to compensate him for the damages, especially since Dussel only gets one bar of inferior wartime soap a month.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
