Damage is one of several verbs which refer to ways of causing injury or harm. Damage and harm are the most general verbs.
The following verbs refer to severe damage or harm of a general kind:
| defile | desecrate | destroy | devastate | mangle |
| mutilate | pull apart | ravage | ruin | vandalize |
| wreck | ||||
Defile and desecrate are used to refer to damage done to something precious, pure, or sacred.
The following verbs refer to damage done to a person's body:
| bruise | injure | stab | wound |
Injure and wound are the most general terms, although wound is used mainly to refer to injuries caused in fighting. If someone is bruised, their skin is not broken but a purple mark appears. People are stabbed with something pointed, such as a knife.
The following verbs refer to acts which spoil the appearance or surface of something:
| deface | discolour | disfigure | mark | scar |
| smear | smudge | spoil | stain |
Deface, disfigure, mark, and spoil are the most general terms.
The following verbs are used to refer to damage done with a knife, axe, or other sharp instrument:
| cut | chop | gash | hack | lacerate |
| lop off | nick | pierce | score | scratch |
| sever | slash | slice | slit |
If you cut, chop, hack, lop, slash, or slice part of something off, you remove it.
Only lop has to be used with off; you can use the other five verbs without 'off' to refer to damage that does not remove part of the object.
You can also sever part of something. Sever is a formal word.
If you score or scratch something, you make a thin line in its surface. If you nick something, you make a small cut in it. The other verbs refer to bigger or deeper cuts.
The following verbs refer to dividing something hard by force into two or more pieces, or dividing one part of it from another:
| break | chip | crack | fracture | shatter |
| smash | snap | splinter | split |
If you chip or splinter something, you break a small piece of it off. If you crack something, a line appears where two parts of it are no longer joined. The other verbs refer to more serious damage.
You tear, rip, or shred cloth or paper.
You burst something that is completely full of air or liquid, such as a balloon.
If you crumble, crush, or pulverize something, you press it so that it becomes a mass of small pieces.
The following verbs refer to acts which damage something by changing its shape:
| bend | crumple | dent | flatten | squash |
| twist | ||||
Crush can also be used with this meaning when you are talking about cloth or paper.
| Imperative |
|---|
| damage |
| damage |
| Noun | 1. | damage - the occurrence of a change for the worsealteration, change, modification - an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another; "the change was intended to increase sales"; "this storm is certainly a change for the worse"; "the neighborhood had undergone few modifications since his last visit years ago" deformation, distortion - a change for the worse |
| 2. | damage - loss of military equipment battle damage, combat casualty - loss of military equipment in battle operational casualty, operational damage - loss of military equipment in field operations casualty - a decrease of military personnel or equipment armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker" | |
| 3. | damage - the act of damaging something or someone change of integrity - the act of changing the unity or wholeness of something impairment - damage that results in a reduction of strength or quality defacement, disfiguration, disfigurement - the act of damaging the appearance or surface of something; "the defacement of an Italian mosaic during the Turkish invasion"; "he objected to the dam's massive disfigurement of the landscape" wounding - the act of inflicting a wound burn - damage inflicted by fire | |
| 4. | damage - the amount of money needed to purchase something; "the price of gasoline"; "he got his new car on excellent terms"; "how much is the damage?"cost - the total spent for goods or services including money and time and labor asking price, selling price - the price at which something is offered for sale bid price - (stock market) the price at which a broker is willing to buy a certain security closing price - (stock market) the price of the last transaction completed during a day's trading session factory price - price charged for goods picked up at the factory highway robbery - an exorbitant price; "what they are asking for gas these days is highway robbery" purchase price - the price at which something is actually purchased cash price, spot price - the current delivery price of a commodity traded in the spot market support level - (stock market) the price at which a certain security becomes attractive to investors valuation - assessed price; "the valuation of this property is much too high" | |
| 5. | damage - any harm or injury resulting from a violation of a legal right injury - wrongdoing that violates another's rights and is unjustly inflicted | |
| Verb | 1. | damage - inflict damage upon; "The snow damaged the roof"; "She damaged the car when she hit the tree" alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" burn - burn with heat, fire, or radiation; "The iron burnt a hole in my dress" frost - damage by frost; "The icy precipitation frosted the flowers and they turned brown" bilge - cause to leak; "the collision bilged the vessel" break - render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!" total - damage beyond the point of repair; "My son totaled our new car"; "the rock star totals his guitar at every concert" bruise - damage (plant tissue) by abrasion or pressure; "The customer bruised the strawberries by squeezing them" disturb - damage as if by shaking or jarring; "Don't disturb the patient's wounds by moving him too rapidly!" impair - make worse or less effective; "His vision was impaired" corrode, rust, eat - cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid; "The acid corroded the metal"; "The steady dripping of water rusted the metal stopper in the sink" shatter - damage or destroy; "The news of her husband's death shattered her life" |
| 2. | damage - suffer or be susceptible to damage; "These fine china cups damage easily" change - undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night" |