domino effect

American  

noun

• domino effects
  plural

1. the cumulative effect that results when one event precipitates a series of like events.

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domino effect British  

noun

1. a series of similar or related events occurring as a direct and inevitable result of one initial event

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• domino effects
  plural

Etymology

Origin of domino effect

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

domino effect

“I truly felt I would be able to do all these shows in spite of the recent medical domino effect that has occurred,” Michaels wrote on Instagram.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Campaigners warned that it would create a domino effect leading to other services being withdrawn.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

That failure trapped the 12-story building in an undetected, slow-motion domino effect that ultimately claimed 98 lives, concluding something that many engineers had long suspected.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

This has created “a domino effect that also strains hospitals and other care settings.”

From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026

Stack collapses weren’t that uncommon, and if the scaffold supports buckled at the wrong angle, the domino effect could bring down four or five of the neighboring stacks too.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline