| 单词 | catastrophe |
| 释义 | catastrophe (once / 592 pages) n A catastrophe is a disaster. If a wedding reception is disrupted by a fistfight between the bride and her new mother-in-law, you could call the occasion a catastrophe. Catastrophe comes from a Greek word meaning "overturn." It originally referred to the disastrous finish of a drama, usually a tragedy. The definition was extended to mean "any sudden disaster" in the 1700s. Nowadays, catastrophe can be used to refer to very tragic events as well as more minor ones. A hurricane destroying hundreds of homes is certainly a catastrophe; baking a birthday cake without following a recipe might also result in catastrophe, if you don't know anything about cooking. WORD FAMILYcatastrophe: catastrophes USAGE EXAMPLESBesides the optimism, the poll also found a lack of perceived catastrophe. Salon(Jan 01, 2017) It was the greatest catastrophe ever to befall the human species. The New Yorker(Jan 01, 2017) On Thursday, a former top EU lawyer warned of a "catastrophe" for the UK if no interim trade accord was struck. BBC(Dec 30, 2016) 1n a sudden violent change in the earth's surface Syn|Hypo|Hyper cataclysm 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, cataclysm, 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 3n a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune lack of funds has resulted in a catastrophe for our school system Syn|Hyper disaster adversity, hard knocks, hardship a state of misfortune or affliction |
| 随便看 |
英语词典包含147318条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。