damages
Britishplural noun
Explanation
Damages are the official amount of money awarded to the winner in a law suit. If you're hurt in a car accident that's another driver's fault, you may end up collecting damages. The legal term damages usually refers to money that's owed or received to compensate someone for a loss or an injury. If a business owner's negligence — not clearing ice from a sidewalk, for example — causes you to be injured, you can sue her for damages to pay for your broken arm and the days of work you had to miss. Sometimes a court awards "punitive damages" as well, which are specifically intended to punish the defendant.
Vocabulary lists containing damages
The Skin I'm In
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Hitler Youth
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City of the Plague God
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The dealership claims it is owed at least $25 million in damages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
And it emerged from a damages suit about leaked records that placed no tax liability in controversy.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
With two convictions and nearly $1 billion in damages already stacked up, Meta will face another trial starting this week about alleged harms to children in a case brought by four US states.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Boston and Skegness MP and Reform deputy leader told Talk TV they believed the NCA had committed "multiple criminal offences" and said they would be seeking an apology and damages.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
But it turns out that plowing the land over and over damages the soil almost as much as chemical weed killers do.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
