casualty

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A person who is killed, injured, or missing because of an accident, disaster, or war.

   Grammar: Countable: one casualty, two casualties. Often used in the plural.

   Patterns

   • casualty of something
   • heavy casualties

   The earthquake caused many casualties.

   The army suffered heavy casualties in the battle.

   She was the only casualty of the fire.

2. 2nouncountable

   Someone or something that is harmed or lost as a result of an event or situation.

   Grammar: Often used with of: a casualty of the recession.

   Patterns

   • casualty of something

   The small business was a casualty of the economic downturn.

   Many workers were casualties of the company's restructuring.

   Truth was a casualty of the political scandal.

Word forms

Common combinations

heavy casualties

The troops suffered heavy casualties.

civilian casualties

The war led to many civilian casualties.

casualty of war

He was a casualty of war.

casualty department

She was taken to the casualty department.

casualty list

The casualty list was published in the newspaper.

Synonyms and how they differ

victim

Victim often implies someone harmed by a crime or unfair treatment; casualty is used more for accidents, disasters, and wars.

loss

Loss can mean a person killed in war (military losses), but it is broader and can refer to anything lost.

Word family

casualties noun

Plural form, often used for people killed or injured.

Commonly confused: casualty or casual?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “casualty”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words