disaster

Noun

disaster (countable and uncountable, plural disasters)

1. An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent change to the natural environment.
   • People would suffer disasters when society's morality degenerates.
   • Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying...2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28
2. An unfortunate or unpleasant occurrence, especially one resulting from an accident or something going wrong.
   • Then Jill came in,
     And she did grin,
     To see Jack's paper plaster;
     Her mother whipt her,
     Across her knee,
     For laughing at Jack's disaster.1810, Jack and Jill, and old Dame Gill, York: J. Kendrew, page 4
   • And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a...1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
3. An wholly unsatisfactory result caused by something going wrong or being done poorly; a flop or failure.
   • the cake was a disaster.
4. A skateboard trick involving a 180-degree ollie, landing on the center of the board with the front trucks facing towards the ramp and the back trucks over the lip. The skater then leans forwards to return in the ramp.