ALL meanings of catastrophe
ca·tas·tro·phe
C c - countable noun catastrophe A catastrophe is an unexpected event that causes great suffering or damage. 3
- noun catastrophe a sudden, extensive, or notable disaster or misfortune 3
- noun catastrophe the denouement of a play, esp a classical tragedy 3
- noun catastrophe a final decisive event, usually causing a disastrous end 3
- noun catastrophe any sudden and violent change in the earth's surface caused by flooding, earthquake, or some other rapid process 3
- noun catastrophe the culminating event of a drama, esp. of a tragedy, by which the plot is resolved; denouement 3
- noun catastrophe a disastrous end, bringing overthrow or ruin 3
- noun catastrophe any great and sudden calamity, disaster, or misfortune 3
- noun catastrophe a total or ignominious failure 3
- noun catastrophe a sudden, violent change, such as an earthquake 3
- noun catastrophe major disaster 1
- noun catastrophe fiasco, failure 1
- noun catastrophe a sudden and widespread disaster: the catastrophe of war. 1
- noun catastrophe any misfortune, mishap, or failure; fiasco: The play was so poor our whole evening was a catastrophe. 1
- noun catastrophe a final event or conclusion, usually an unfortunate one; a disastrous end: the great catastrophe of the Old South at Appomattox. 1
- noun catastrophe (in a drama) the point at which the circumstances overcome the central motive, introducing the close or conclusion; dénouement. Compare catastasis, epitasis, protasis. 1
- noun catastrophe Geology. a sudden, violent disturbance, especially of a part of the surface of the earth; cataclysm. 1
- noun catastrophe Also called catastrophe function. Mathematics. any of the mathematical functions that describe the discontinuities that are treated in catastrophe theory. 1
- noun catastrophe An event causing great and often sudden damage or suffering; a disaster. 1
- noun catastrophe Any large and disastrous event of great significance. 0
- noun catastrophe (insurance) A disaster beyond expectations. 0
- noun catastrophe (narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot in a tragedy. 0
- noun catastrophe (mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states. 0