debacle
[dey-bah-kuh l, -bak-uh l, duh-]
- a general breakup or dispersion; sudden downfall or rout: The revolution ended in a debacle.
- a complete collapse or failure.
- a breaking up of ice in a river.Compare embacle.
- a violent rush of waters or ice.
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Origin of debacle
1795–1805; < French débâcle, derivative of débâcler to unbar, clear, equivalent to dé- dis-1 + bâcler to bar ≪ Latin baculum stick, rod
Synonyms
See more synonyms for debacle on Thesaurus.com2. disaster, ruin, fiasco, catastrophe, calamity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for debacle
Contemporary Examples
“I believe we are in the hour of the debacle of the institutions, they cannot be any more rotten,” said Padre Goyo.
During this debacle, she read some medical literature on self-dehydration.
In the event, debacle that it was, Kennedy refused to listen to them.
After this debacle, my friend and I ordered The Artist out of revenge.
Of course, the Crash over Brokeback Mountain debacle fits into this same rant.
The Worst Oscar Winners, From ‘Rocky’ and ‘Crash’ to Gwyneth PaltrowKevin Fallon, Marlow Stern
February 26, 2014
Historical Examples
The next subject upon which I thought I might tackle him was the “Debacle.”
The debacle of Russia was ever before the eyes of these nations.
With the Doughboy in FranceEdward Hungerford
Some place in that debacle there lay his own responsibility.
Dangerous DaysMary Roberts Rinehart
How long would it be before we reached this stage of debacle?
Our ElizabethFlorence A. Kilpatrick
That was one way of putting it, but both Joe and the newscaster who had covered the debacle knew the reality of the situation.
MercenaryDallas McCord Reynolds
debacle
- a sudden disastrous collapse or defeat, esp one involving a disorderly retreat; rout
- the breaking up of ice in a river during spring or summer, often causing flooding
- a violent rush of water carrying along debris
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Word Origin
C19: from French débâcle, from Old French desbacler to unbolt, ultimately from Latin baculum rod, staff
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for debacle
n.
"disaster," 1848, from French débâcle "downfall, collapse, disaster" (17c.), a figurative use, literally "breaking up (of ice on a river)," extended to the violent flood that follows when the river ice melts in spring; from débâcler "to free," from Middle French desbacler "to unbar," from des- "off" + bacler "to bar," from Vulgar Latin *bacculare, from Latin baculum "stick" (see bacillus). Sense of "disaster" was present in French before English borrowed the word.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper