havoc

hav·oc

 (hăv′ək)

n.

1. Widespread destruction; devastation.

2. Disorder or chaos: a wild party that created havoc in the house.

tr.v. hav·ocked, hav·ock·ing, hav·ocs

To destroy or pillage.

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[Middle English havok, from Anglo-Norman (crier) havok, (to cry) havoc, variant of Old French havot, plundering, of Germanic origin.]

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.

havoc

(ˈhævək)

n

1. destruction; devastation; ruin

2. informal confusion; chaos

3. cry havoc archaic to give the signal for pillage and destruction

4. play havoc (often foll by with) to cause a great deal of damage, distress, or confusion (to)

vb, -ocs, -ocking or -ocked

(tr) archaic to lay waste

[C15: from Old French havot pillage, probably of Germanic origin]

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

hav•oc

(ˈhæv ək)

n., v. -ocked, -ock•ing. n.

1. great destruction or devastation; ruinous damage.

v.t.

2. to work havoc upon; devastate.

v.i.

3. to work havoc.

Idioms:

play havoc with,

a. to create confusion or disorder in.

b. to destroy; ruin.

[1400–50; late Middle English havok < Anglo-French (in phrase crier havok to cry havoc, i.e., utter the command havoc! as signal for pillaging), Middle French havot in same sense < Germanic]

hav′ock•er, n.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

havoc

Past participle: havocked
Gerund: havocking

Imperative

havoc

havoc

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

havoc - violent and needless disturbance   mayhem disturbance - the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

havoc

noun

1. devastation, damage, destruction, waste, ruin, wreck, slaughter, ravages, carnage, desolation, rack and ruin, despoliation Rioters caused havoc in the centre of the town.

2. (Informal) disorder, confusion, chaos, disruption, mayhem, shambles A single mare running loose could cause havoc among otherwise reliable stallions.

play havoc with something wreck, destroy, devastate, disrupt, demolish, disorganize, bring into chaos Drug addiction soon played havoc with his career.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

havoc

noun

The act of destroying or state of being destroyed:

bane, destruction, devastation, ruin, ruination, undoing, wrack, wreck, wreckage.

verb

To rob of goods by force, especially in time of war:

depredate, despoil, loot, pillage, plunder, ransack, rape, ravage, sack, spoliate, strip.

Archaic: harrow, spoil.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

خَراب، دمار

spoušť

ødelæggelse

Verwüstung

caos

bagarrechaosravage

pusztítás

eyîilegging, skaîi

rovinadevastaredisastro

nusiaubimas

postījumi

hasaryıkım

大破坏

havoc

[ˈhævək] N → estragos mpl
to cause or create havoc → hacer estragos
this latest decision will cause havoc in the tourist industry → esta última decisión hará estragos or provocará grandes trastornos en el sector turístico
to play havoc with the recession is playing havoc with the government's balance sheets → la recesión está dando al traste con or haciendo estragos en los balances de ejercicio del gobierno
the food in the hotel played havoc with my digestion → la comida del hotel me destrozó el estómago
the weather played havoc with sporting fixtures this weekend → el mal tiempo arruinó los acontecimientos deportivos del fin de semana
to wreak havoc → hacer estragos
the slugs are wreaking havoc in the garden → las babosas están arruinando or estropeando el jardín
stress can wreak havoc on the immune system → el estrés puede causar serios trastornos en el sistema inmunológico

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

havoc

[ˈhævək] n → ravages mpl, dégâts mpl
to cause havoc → semer le chaos
to play havoc with sth → détraquer qch
to wreak havoc (= cause serious damage) → faire des ravages
Slugs wreak havoc on young plants → Les limaces font des ravages sur les jeunes plantes.
Stress can wreak havoc on the immune system → Le stress peut faire des ravages sur le système immunitaire.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

havoc

n → verheerender Schaden; (= devastation also) → Verwüstung f; (= chaos) → Chaos nt; to cause or create havoc → ein Chaos verursachen; to wreak havoc in or on or with something, to play havoc with something → bei etw verheerenden Schaden anrichten; (physical damage also) → etw verwüsten, etw verheerend zurichten; with health, part of the body → für etw üble or schlimme Folgen haben, sich übel auf etw (acc) → auswirken; with life, career → etw ruinieren; the tornado wreaked havoc all along the coast → der Tornado richtete entlang der ganzen Küste große Verwüstungen an; this wreaked havoc with their plans → das brachte ihre Pläne völlig durcheinander; the sudden rise in oil prices played havoc with India’s five-year plan → der plötzliche Anstieg der Ölpreise hat Indiens Fünfjahresplan vollständig über den Haufen geworfen (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

havoc

[ˈhævək] n → distruzione f, devastazione f
to wreak havoc on → devastare
to play havoc with (fig) → scombussolare

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

havoc

(ˈhӕvək) noun

great destruction or damage. The hurricane created havoc over a wide area. verwoesting خَراب، دمار опустошение devastação spoušť die Verwüstung ødelæggelse ερήμωση, καταστροφήestragos, destrucción hävitustöö ويرانی sekasorto ravageהרס विनाश opustošenost, poharanost, katastrofa pusztítás kerusakan eyðilegging, skaði devastazione 大破壊 대혼란, 대파괴 nusiaubimas postījumi kemusnahan verwoesting, averijskade, ødeleggelse spustoszenie ويجاړه ونه ، ورانونه ، كوټونه devastação prăpăd, ravagii разрушение spúšť opustošenje pustoš förstörelse, ödeläggelse ความหายนะ hasar, yıkım 浩劫，大破壞 спустошення; руйнування تباہی اور بربادی sự tàn phá 大破坏

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.