| catastrophe | | |
| n. (event) | 1. calamity, cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy | an event resulting in great loss and misfortune.; "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster" |
| ~ misfortune, bad luck | unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event. |
| ~ act of god, force majeure, inevitable accident, unavoidable casualty, vis major | a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events.; "he discovered that his house was not insured against acts of God" |
| ~ apocalypse | a cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil. |
| ~ famine | a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death. |
| ~ kiss of death | something that is ruinous.; "if this were known it would be the kiss of death for my political career" |
| ~ meltdown | a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown.; "there is little likelihood of a meltdown comparable to the American banking collapse in March 1933" |
| ~ plague | any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God). |
| ~ visitation | any disaster or catastrophe.; "a visitation of the plague" |
| ~ tidal wave | an unusual (and often destructive) rise of water along the seashore caused by a storm or a combination of wind and high tide. |
| ~ tsunami | a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption.; "a colossal tsunami destroyed the Minoan civilization in minutes" |
| n. (state) | 2. catastrophe, disaster | a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune.; "lack of funds has resulted in a catastrophe for our school system"; "his policies were a disaster" |
| ~ adversity, hard knocks, hardship | a state of misfortune or affliction.; "debt-ridden farmers struggling with adversity"; "a life of hardship" |
| n. (phenomenon) | 3. cataclysm, catastrophe | a sudden violent change in the earth's surface. |
| ~ geological phenomenon | a natural phenomenon involving the structure or composition of the earth. |
| ~ nuclear winter | a long period of darkness and extreme cold that scientists predict would follow a full-scale nuclear war; a layer of dust and smoke in the atmosphere would cover the earth and block the rays of the sun; most living organisms would perish. |
| collapse | | |
| n. (state) | 1. collapse, prostration | an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion.; "the commander's prostration demoralized his men" |
| ~ illness, sickness, unwellness, malady | impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism. |
| ~ crack-up, breakdown | a mental or physical breakdown. |
| ~ shock | (pathology) bodily collapse or near collapse caused by inadequate oxygen delivery to the cells; characterized by reduced cardiac output and rapid heartbeat and circulatory insufficiency and pallor.; "loss of blood is an important cause of shock" |
| ~ heat hyperpyrexia, heatstroke | collapse caused by exposure to excessive heat. |
| ~ algidity | prostration characterized by cold and clammy skin and low blood pressure. |
| n. (event) | 2. collapse | a natural event caused by something suddenly falling down or caving in.; "the roof is in danger of collapse"; "the collapse of the old star under its own gravity" |
| ~ happening, natural event, occurrence, occurrent | an event that happens. |
| ~ cave in, subsidence | the sudden collapse of something into a hollow beneath it. |
| ~ debacle, fiasco | a sudden and violent collapse. |
| ~ implosion | a sudden inward collapse.; "the implosion of a light bulb" |
| n. (act) | 3. collapse, flop | the act of throwing yourself down.; "he landed on the bed with a great flop" |
| ~ descent | the act of changing your location in a downward direction. |
| n. (event) | 4. collapse, crash | a sudden large decline of business or the prices of stocks (especially one that causes additional failures). |
| ~ happening, natural event, occurrence, occurrent | an event that happens. |
| v. (motion) | 5. break, cave in, collapse, fall in, founder, give, give way | break down, literally or metaphorically.; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice" |
| ~ change | undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature.; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night" |
| ~ implode, go off | burst inward.; "The bottle imploded" |
| ~ abandon, give up | stop maintaining or insisting on; of ideas or claims.; "He abandoned the thought of asking for her hand in marriage"; "Both sides have to give up some claims in these negotiations" |
| ~ buckle, crumple | fold or collapse.; "His knees buckled" |
| ~ flop | fall loosely.; "He flopped into a chair" |
| ~ break | curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves.; "The surf broke" |
| ~ slide down, slump, sink | fall or sink heavily.; "He slumped onto the couch"; "My spirits sank" |
| ~ collapse, burst | cause to burst.; "The ice broke the pipe" |
| v. (body) | 6. break down, collapse | collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack. |
| ~ drop like flies | rapidly collapse, die, or drop out in large numbers.; "the contestants dropped like flies when the thermometer hit one hundred degrees" |
| ~ fall over, go over | fall forward and down.; "The old woman went over without a sound" |
| ~ suffer, sustain, have, get | undergo (as of injuries and illnesses).; "She suffered a fracture in the accident"; "He had an insulin shock after eating three candy bars"; "She got a bruise on her leg"; "He got his arm broken in the scuffle" |
| v. (motion) | 7. collapse | fold or close up.; "fold up your umbrella"; "collapse the music stand" |
| ~ fold, fold up, turn up | bend or lay so that one part covers the other.; "fold up the newspaper"; "turn up your collar" |
| ~ deflate | collapse by releasing contained air or gas.; "deflate a balloon" |
| ~ concertina | collapse like a concertina. |
| v. (motion) | 8. break down, collapse, crumble, crumple, tumble | fall apart.; "the building crumbled after the explosion"; "Negotiations broke down" |
| ~ change integrity | change in physical make-up. |
| v. (motion) | 9. burst, collapse | cause to burst.; "The ice broke the pipe" |
| ~ pop | cause to burst with a loud, explosive sound.; "The child popped the balloon" |
| ~ cave in, collapse, fall in, give way, founder, give, break | break down, literally or metaphorically.; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice" |
| ~ cave in, collapse, fall in, give way, founder, give, break | break down, literally or metaphorically.; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice" |
| v. (emotion) | 10. break up, collapse, crack, crack up, crock up | suffer a nervous breakdown. |
| ~ suffer, sustain, have, get | undergo (as of injuries and illnesses).; "She suffered a fracture in the accident"; "He had an insulin shock after eating three candy bars"; "She got a bruise on her leg"; "He got his arm broken in the scuffle" |
| v. (change) | 11. collapse | lose significance, effectiveness, or value.; "The school system is collapsing"; "The stock market collapsed" |
| ~ weaken | become weaker.; "The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days" |
| demolish | | |
| v. (creation) | 1. demolish, pulverise, pulverize | destroy completely.; "the wrecking ball demolished the building"; "demolish your enemies"; "pulverize the rebellion before it gets out of hand" |
| ~ destroy, destruct | do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of.; "The fire destroyed the house" |
| v. (emotion) | 2. crush, demolish, smash | humiliate or depress completely.; "She was crushed by his refusal of her invitation"; "The death of her son smashed her" |
| ~ abase, chagrin, humiliate, humble, mortify | cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of.; "He humiliated his colleague by criticising him in front of the boss" |
| v. (competition) | 3. demolish, destroy | defeat soundly.; "The home team demolished the visitors" |
| ~ smash | overthrow or destroy (something considered evil or harmful).; "The police smashed the drug ring after they were tipped off" |
| ~ swallow | engulf and destroy.; "The Nazis swallowed the Baltic countries" |
| ~ cut to ribbons | defeat totally.; "We must cut the other team to ribbons!" |
| ~ defeat, get the better of, overcome | win a victory over.; "You must overcome all difficulties"; "defeat your enemies"; "He overcame his shyness"; "He overcame his infirmity"; "Her anger got the better of her and she blew up" |
| raze | | |
| v. (creation) | 1. dismantle, level, pull down, rase, raze, take down, tear down | tear down so as to make flat with the ground.; "The building was levelled" |
| ~ bulldoze | flatten with or as if with a bulldozer. |
| ~ destroy, destruct | do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of.; "The fire destroyed the house" |
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