disaster
part of speech
noun (disaster, disasters)
meaning for a pupil
1) A disaster is a terrible event that causes a lot of damage, suffering or death, like an earthquake, flood or big crash. tree →
2) A disaster is something that goes very badly or fails completely. tree →
sense in the lessons
In geography and science, natural disasters include floods, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes and tsunamis; families make emergency plans for them. In everyday life, a burnt cake or a wrong costume can be «a disaster» in a joking way. Phrases: «natural disaster», «a total disaster», «end in disaster», «disaster area».
examples
- The flood was a natural disaster for the whole town. tree →
- Our first try at the cake was a disaster. tree →
- The trip ended in disaster when the bus broke down. tree →
- People gave money to help the disaster victims. tree →
- Know your family's plan in case of a disaster. tree →
- The play was nearly a disaster, but we saved it. tree →
- Scientists study earthquakes to prevent disasters. tree →
- False confidence often leads to disaster. tree →
note
Countable: «a disaster», «disasters». Adjective: «disastrous» (no «e» before r). Exaggeration: in everyday talk people call small problems «a disaster»; in news it means real harm. In maths problems it may come with numbers of people helped, money raised or houses damaged.
In the corpora
- That is not a disaster; pretending is.
- Live shows often have small disasters, so teams keep safety pins, tape and spare costumes ready.
- Water on burning oil is a disaster.
- The first week had its disasters.
- River floods are among the deadliest natural disasters, especially on big rivers like the Yellow River in China.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «disaster» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.