cataclysm Hear it!

cataclysm definition

cata·clysm (kat′ə kliz′əm)

noun

  1. a great flood; deluge
  2. any great upheaval, as an earthquake or a war, that causes sudden and violent changes, great destruction, etc.

Etymology: L cataclysmos < Gr kataklysmos < kataklyzein < kata-, down + klyzein, to wash: for IE base see cloaca

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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