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

As for changes to the EU itself, what's fascinating is that in 2016, after the UK's Brexit vote, there was widespread prediction of a "domino effect".

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

There are all these things that are a domino effect that you cannot predict.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

According to Macquarie analysts, a few weeks of Hormuz closure “will create a domino effect of events that could push crude to $150 or higher.”

From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 2026

The selloff may have been exacerbated by a domino effect of investors trying to front-run selling their shares, in Gastwirth’s opinion.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 24, 2026

If just one of them moved, I thought, the domino effect could engulf the three of us in an asphyxiating mass of literature.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green