# impact

Pronunciation: say "IM-pakt" /ˈɪmpækt/

## Noun

1. A strong or significant influence or effect that something has on a person, group, or situation.
   - Simple: A strong effect that something has on people or things.
   - _The new training program had a measurable impact on employee productivity._
   - _Social media has a powerful impact on how young people see themselves._
3. The action of one object hitting another, or the force with which it hits.
   - Simple: The moment one thing hits another hard, or how hard it hits.
   - _The impact of the meteorite left a massive crater._
   - _Engineers studied the impact between the test vehicle and the barrier._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "im-PAKT" /ɪmˈpækt/

2. To have a significant or strong effect on someone or something.
   - Simple: To have a strong effect on someone or something.
   - _Rising interest rates impact household budgets across the country._
   - _The policy change impacted thousands of workers._
4. To strike or collide with something.
   - Simple: To hit or crash into something.
   - _The probe is designed to impact the comet and gather data from the debris._
   - _The bullet impacted the steel plate and shattered._
5. To press something firmly into a space, or to pack it tightly together.
   - Simple: To press or pack something tightly together.
   - _During the operation, the surgeon uses a small tamp to impact the bone graft firmly into the hip socket._
   - _Earwax that has become impacted in the ear canal can muffle your hearing until a doctor flushes it out._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "im-PAKT" /ɪmˈpækt/

6. To stamp or impress a mark onto a surface. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To stamp or press a mark onto something.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A forceful pressing of one thing against another, as of one vertebra on the next.

## Origin

Latin "impāctus" is the source; English has used the word since the 17th century.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/impact (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).