casualty

noun

ca·​su·​al·​ty ˈka-zhəl-tē 

ˈkazh-wəl-,

ˈka-zhə-wəl- 

plural casualties

1

a

: a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action

The army sustained heavy casualties.

b

: a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed : victim

the ex-senator was a casualty of the last election

2

: serious or fatal accident : disaster

losses from fire, storm, or other casualty

—J. S. Seidman

3

archaic : chance, fortune

losses that befall them by mere casualty

—Sir Walter Raleigh

Synonyms

• fatality
• loss
• prey
• victim

Examples of casualty in a Sentence

a low number of casualties

the real casualties in the war against drugs are millions of innocent children

Recent Examples on the Web

The dead included a mother and her five children, some of them adults, and a second mother with her six children, according to an initial casualty list provided by the emergency service. —Wafaa Shurafa, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2024

Why so many civilian casualties, especially children? —Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Oct. 2024

Her mother’s fierce protection ensured Ronan never became a casualty of Hollywood’s darker side. —Clayton Davis, Variety, 25 Oct. 2024

Officials believe weapons stockpile points to ‘potential mass casualty event’ More than 120 guns and more than 250,000 rounds of ammunition were found at Kelly’s home following his arrest, prosecutors said at Kelly’s initial court appearance Wednesday. —Kelly McCleary, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see casual entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

casualty

noun

ca·​su·​al·​ty ˈkazh-əl-tē 

ˈkazh-(ə-)wəl-

plural casualties

1

: a serious or fatal accident : disaster

2

a

: a military person lost (as by death or capture) during warfare

b

: a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed

Medical Definition

casualty

noun

ca·​su·​al·​ty ˈkazh-əl-tē, ˈkazh-(ə-)wəl- 

plural casualties

1

: a serious or fatal accident

2

: a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action

3

a

: injury or death from accident

b

: one injured or killed (as by accident)

Legal Definition

casualty

noun

ca·​su·​al·​ty ˈka-zhəl-tē, ˈka-zhə-wəl- 

plural casualties

1

: an unfortunate occurrence

especially : a serious and often disastrous accident

conversion of property…arising from fire, storm, shipwreck, or other casualty

—Internal Revenue Code

2

: something lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed see also casualty gain at gain, casualty loss at loss