dam·age

(dăm′ĭj)

1. Destruction or a loss in value, usefulness, or ability resulting from an action or event.

2. damages Law Money required to be paid as compensation for an injury or wrong.

3. Informal Cost; price: What's the damage for the tickets to the show?

v. dam·aged, dam·ag·ing, dam·ag·es

v.tr.

To cause damage to.

v.intr.

To suffer or be susceptible to damage.

[Middle English, from Old French : dam, loss (from Latin damnum) + -age, -age.]

dam′age·a·bil′i·ty n.

dam′age·a·ble adj.

dam′ag·ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

damages

(ˈdæmɪdʒɪz)

pl n

(Law) law money to be paid as compensation to a person for injury, loss, etc

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

damages - a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury

amends, indemnification, redress, restitution, indemnity

compensation - something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury)

relief - (law) redress awarded by a court; "was the relief supposed to be protection from future harm or compensation for past injury?"

actual damages, compensatory damages, general damages - (law) compensation for losses that can readily be proven to have occurred and for which the injured party has the right to be compensated

nominal damages - (law) a trivial sum (usually $1.00) awarded as recognition that a legal injury was sustained (as for technical violations of a contract)

exemplary damages, punitive damages, smart money - (law) compensation in excess of actual damages (a form of punishment awarded in cases of malicious or willful misconduct)

atonement, expiation, satisfaction - compensation for a wrong; "we were unable to get satisfaction from the local store"

Translations

Schadenersatz

daños y perjuicios

indennizzo

damages

n., pl. daños y perjuicios.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Mentioned in

References in periodicals archive

The court therefore fashioned a middle ground, permitting the child to recover special damages, but not general damages.

When life is an injury: an economic approach to wrongful life lawsuits. (Note)

In a case of first impression in the state, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that increased proximity damages attributable to a state's condemnation of a partial strip of land were compensable as "special damages."

Proximity damages due to state's condemnation of land determined compensable. (Cases in Brief)

Slander in contrast was only treated as a criminal offense when special damages were claimed for imputing to the victim a crime or loathsome disease, or disparaging his or her trade.

Sexual Slander in Nineteenth-Century England: Defamation in the Ecclesiastical Courts, 1815-1855. (Reviews)

Ms Stratton was also awarded special damages, bringing the total award payable to her up to pounds 12,888.

Woman suffers claim setback; Case costs exceed the level of compensation

The new approach also may save insurers money because it does not tie general damage awards to special damages, which include actual medical expenses.

Calculating The Value of Pain

They are each demanding $50,000 in general damages, $50,000 in special damages and $250,000 in punitive damages.

Sisters sue Catholic order (Metis sisters sue for treatment at convent in 1959)

The suit asks $7 million in special damages for loss of earnings, $4 million in general damages and $1 million for loss of medical, retirement and other benefits.

Copley sued for $12 million: four former editorial employees allege they were fired based on age and disability discrimination

Those compensatory damages are separated into two parts: general damages, such as pain and suffering; and special damages, such as lost wages and health care expenses.

Managed care and the tort system: are we paying unnecessary billions?

The company, which also named the 25,000-member Western Canada Wilderness Committee in the lawsuit, is seeking more than $100,000 in special damages and an unspecified amount for general and punitive damages plus court costs and interest.

SLAPPed silly in BC

She is seeking general and special damages, as well as interest and other costs which the court deems fit.

Teen in botched circumcision case gets RM150,000 in out-of-court deal

She cited $23,000 in special damages and sought $50,000 to settle before trial.

Jury again sides with driver in parking-spot dispute

Anti-corruption tsar and whistleblower John Githongo has suffered a blow as the High Court has ordered him to pay former Cabinet minister Chris Murungaru Sh27 million for defamation.In the ruling delivered on Thursday, the court in Nairobi directed Mr Githongo to pay Dr Murungaru Sh20 million in general damages, Sh5 million in exemplary damages, and Sh2 million in special damages.

Court orders Githongo to pay Murungaru Sh27m for defamation