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Webster 1913 Edition


Casualty

Cas′u-al-ty

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Casualties
(#)
.
[F.
casualité
, LL.
casualitas
.]
1.
That which comes without design or without being foreseen; contingency.
Losses that befall them by mere
casualty
.
Sir W. Raleigh.
2.
Any injury of the body from accident; hence, death, or other misfortune, occasioned by an accident;
as, an unhappy
casualty
.
3.
pl.
(Mil. & Naval)
Numerical loss caused by death, wounds, discharge, or desertion.
Syn. – Accident; contingency; fortuity; misfortune.

Webster 1828 Edition


Casualty

CASUALTY

,
Noun.
1.
Accident; that which comes by chance or without design, or without being foreseen; contingency.
2.
An accident that produces unnatural death; and by a metonymy, death, or other misfortune, occasioned by an accident.
3.
In Scots law, an emolument due from a vassal to his superior, beyond the stated yearly duties, upon certain casual events.

Definition 2024


casualty

casualty

English

Noun

casualty (plural casualties)

  1. (obsolete) Chance nature; randomness.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, NYRB 2001, vol.1, p.327-8:
      The non-necessary [causes] follow; of which, saith Fuchsius, no art can be made, by reason of their uncertainty, casualty, and multitude […].
  2. Something that happens by chance, especially an unfortunate event; an accident, a disaster.
  3. A person suffering from injuries or who has been killed due to an accident or through an act of violence.
  4. (Britain) The accident and emergency department of a hospital.

Synonyms

(hospital's accident and emergency):

Derived terms

  • casualty department
  • casualty event
  • casualty ward

Related terms

Translations