| 单词 | cataclysm |
| 释义 | cataclysm (once / 4489 pages) n The hurricane battered the coast, causing the city to flood, and tens of thousands of people were stranded without food or water. When an event causes great suffering, we call it a cataclysm. Cataclysm comes from the Greek word kataklysmos which means "a deluge or flood." So saying something was “a disaster of cataclysmic proportions” is particularly apt when you're talking about a tsunami. Still, people use the word cataclysmic to describe non-watery disasters, too, like stock market crashes, painful breakups, and failed grammar tests. WORD FAMILYcataclysm: cataclysmal, cataclysmic, cataclysms+/cataclysmic: cataclysmically USAGE EXAMPLESThe samples were then sent to a lab in Germany, where they were examined for clues about the environment in the wake of the cataclysm. Washington Post(Dec 13, 2016) Fortunately, once he and his colleagues did this, they determined that the 2126 cataclysm was vanishingly unlikely. The New Yorker(Aug 11, 2016) But no wrathful god or malevolent alien force proved necessary for human beings: we were quite capable of being our own worst cataclysm. Salon(Dec 07, 2016) 1n a sudden violent change in the earth's surface Syn|Hypo|Hyper catastrophe nuclear winter a long period of darkness and extreme cold that scientists predict would follow a full-scale nuclear war; a layer of dust and smoke in the atmosphere would cover the earth and block the rays of the sun; most living organisms would perish geological phenomenon a natural phenomenon involving the structure or composition of the earth 2n an event resulting in great loss and misfortune Syn|Hypo|Hyper calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy act of God, force majeure, inevitable accident, unavoidable casualty, vis major a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events apocalypsea cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil faminea severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death kiss of deathsomething that is ruinous meltdowna disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown plagueany large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God) visitationany disaster or catastrophe tidal wavean unusual (and often destructive) rise of water along the seashore caused by a storm or a combination of wind and high tide tsunamia cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption the Great Calamity, the Great Hunger, the Great Starvation, the Irish Faminea famine in Ireland resulting from a potato blight; between 1846 and 1851 a million people starved to death and 1.6 million emigrated (most to America) bad luck, misfortune unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event |
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