casualty
Pluralcasualties
- 1A person who is hurt or killed in an accident or an attack.
Rescue workers carried the first casualty out of the wrecked car.
The earthquake left hundreds of casualties needing urgent care.
Similarvictim
- 2A person who is killed in an accident or attack, not just hurt.
The crash produced one casualty and several injured passengers.
Officials confirmed three casualties, while the rest of the family survived.
Similarfatality
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- 3A soldier who can no longer serve because of death, injury, illness, capture, or running away.
Each casualty was recorded so the unit knew its real strength.
Illness alone produced more casualties than enemy fire that winter.
Similarloss
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- 4A person or thing that is harmed or lost because of a choice, event, or situation.
Honesty was the first casualty of the long argument.
Small shops are often the casualties of a sudden economic downturn.
Similarvictim
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- 5An unlucky thing that happens by chance, such as an accident or disaster.
The sinking was a casualty no one had foreseen.
The fire at the old mill was a sad casualty, but luckily no one was inside.
Similaraccident, mishap, misfortune, disaster
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- 6Clipping of casualty department. It means the part of a British hospital that treats emergencies.
She spent four hours in casualty waiting to see a doctor.
They rushed him to casualty after the fall down the stairs.
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- 7
Less common meaning
- 8The quality of happening by luck or chance, not by plan.
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Practice
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Origin
From "casual." It comes from Latin "casus" meaning "event," and first meant "a chance event." Later it came to mean an unfortunate event, especially the loss of a person.