casualty

[ kazh-oo-uhl-tee ]

noun

, plural cas·u·al·ties.

1. Military.
   1. a member of the armed forces lost to service through death, wounds, sickness, capture, or because their whereabouts or condition cannot be determined.
   2. casualties, loss in numerical strength through any cause, as death, wounds, sickness, capture, or desertion.
2. one who is injured or killed in an accident:

   There were no casualties in the traffic accident.

3. any person, group, thing, etc., that is harmed or destroyed as a result of some act or event:

   Their house was a casualty of the fire.

4. a serious accident, especially one involving bodily injury or death.

casualty

/ ˈkæʒjʊəltɪ /

noun

1. a serviceman who is killed, wounded, captured, or missing as a result of enemy action
2. a person who is injured or killed in an accident
3. a hospital department in which victims of accidents, violence, etc, are treated
4. anything that is lost, damaged, or destroyed as the result of an accident, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of casualty¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; casual + -ty ²; replacing late Middle English casuelte, equivalent to casuel ( casual ) + -te -ty ²

Example Sentences

A fire caused by fallen debris from one of the missiles was quickly extinguished and there were no casualties, it said.

From BBC

There are no details of casualties yet but state media said "several students and adults were injured and fell to the ground".

From BBC

During her interview she asked him if his children were unnecessary casualties of his ego.

From BBC

The inspiration came from a magazine article about the casualties of war back in 2007.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s unlikely that Trump will pay attention to the Pentagon’s operations against jihadists there or in the West African Sahel, unless there is a high-profile incident with American casualties.

From BBC

Related Words

• blow
• calamity
• catastrophe
• disaster
• mishap