释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024dis•as•ter /dɪˈzæstɚ/USA pronunciation n. - an overwhelming calamity or catastrophe: [countable]The earthquake was a terrible disaster for that town.[uncountable]Those actions will result in disaster for the economy.
See -astro-. WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024dis•as•ter (di zas′tər, -zä′stər),USA pronunciation n. - a calamitous event, esp. one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood, airplane crash, or business failure.
- [Obs.]an unfavorable aspect of a star or planet.
- Greek ástron
- Latin astrum
- Italian disastro, equivalent. to dis- dis-1 + astro star
- Middle French desastre
- 1585–95
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged mischance, misfortune, misadventure, mishap, accident, blow, reverse, adversity, affliction. Disaster, calamity, catastrophe, cataclysm refer to adverse happenings often occurring suddenly and unexpectedly. A disaster may be caused by carelessness, negligence, bad judgment, or the like, or by natural forces, as a hurricane or flood:a railroad disaster.Calamity suggests great affliction, either personal or general; the emphasis is on the grief or sorrow caused:the calamity of losing a child.Catastrophe refers esp. to the tragic outcome of a personal or public situation; the emphasis is on the destruction or irreplaceable loss:the catastrophe of a defeat in battle.Cataclysm, physically an earth-shaking change, refers to a personal or public upheaval of unparalleled violence:a cataclysm that turned his life in a new direction.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: disaster /dɪˈzɑːstə/ n - an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction
- a thing, project, etc, that fails or has been ruined
Etymology: 16th Century (originally in the sense: malevolent astral influence): from Italian disastro, from dis- (pejorative) + astro star, from Latin astrum, from Greek astrondisˈastrous adj |