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.
Ponder also the sudden ubiquity of advertisements for personal-injury law firms that promise to get their clients ample reward for damages.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
The judge denied the defendants’ request to dismiss the negligence, emotional distress and punitive damages claims.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
Based on that calculation, it said, it believed damages would be below $150 million.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026
On Friday, a Chicago jury ordered Abbott to pay $70 million in damages to four families, marking Abbott’s second major trial loss.
From Barron's • Apr. 16, 2026
He’d also been convicted of fraud for a scam in which he got an obituary of himself published, then sued the newspaper for libel and damages up to $100 million.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
