catastrophe
/kəˈtæstɹəfi/ noun B2- Any large and disastrous event of great significance. · The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophe.
- A disaster beyond expectations.
- The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.
- A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.
Plural catastrophes
From the library
The whole assembly were dumb with astonishment at the revelation and confession which had produced a catastrophe so different from that which had been expected during the last fortnight by the Parisian world.
de Morcerf; a pistol-shot seems quite delightful compared with this catastrophe.”
Such was the third person who was one of the family when the catastrophe occurred.
Undeceive yourself again; either I am greatly mistaken, or she has provided against the catastrophe which threatens you, and, which will pass over without affecting her.
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