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

The woman on the other end of the phone was Nicola Nash, a forensic researcher from the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre in Gloucester, who ordinarily works to identify victims from the First and Second World Wars.

From BBC

It doesn’t just impact your political decisions, such as Caitlyn deeming a potential child casualty as an acceptable sacrifice for her agenda.

From Salon

All-rounder Capsey, 20, is the highest-profile casualty from that tournament, when England failed to make it out of their group.

From BBC

Chark Jr., a receiver the Chargers signed this offseason with hopes of replacing Williams and fellow salary-cap casualty Keenan Allen, could be in position to make his season debut Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

From Los Angeles Times

Since the escalation of the war between Israel and the Shia Muslim Hezbollah, the men and women of the CDF see little rest, and brace themselves for a mass casualty incident every day.

From BBC

Related Words

• blow
• calamity
• catastrophe
• disaster
• mishap