casualty

noun

ca·​su·​al·​ty ˈka-zhəl-tē 

ˈkazh-wəl-,

ˈka-zhə-wəl- 

plural casualties

1

a

: a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action

The army sustained heavy casualties.

b

: a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed : victim

the ex-senator was a casualty of the last election

2

: serious or fatal accident : disaster

losses from fire, storm, or other casualty

—J. S. Seidman

3

archaic : chance, fortune

losses that befall them by mere casualty

—Sir Walter Raleigh

Synonyms

• fatality
• loss
• prey
• victim

Examples of casualty in a Sentence

a low number of casualties

the real casualties in the war against drugs are millions of innocent children

Recent Examples on the Web

Slowing Russian advances, and skyrocketing Russian casualties, should've prompted another nuclear tirade from the Russian president. —Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 May 2025

That said, there have been some casualties along the way, and one of them was Samantha De Martin, aka Indi Hartwell. —Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025

Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of trying to cover up evidence of civilian casualties, a claim the Kremlin denies. —Clare Sebastian, CNN Money, 13 May 2025

With any luck these sensible changes will not be casualties of Trump’s high-risk omnibus strategy. —Matt Fleming, Oc Register, 10 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

see casual entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

casualty

noun

ca·​su·​al·​ty ˈkazh-əl-tē 

ˈkazh-(ə-)wəl-

plural casualties

1

: a serious or fatal accident : disaster

2

a

: a military person lost (as by death or capture) during warfare

b

: a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed

Medical Definition

casualty

noun

ca·​su·​al·​ty ˈkazh-əl-tē, ˈkazh-(ə-)wəl- 

plural casualties

1

: a serious or fatal accident

2

: a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action

3

a

: injury or death from accident

b

: one injured or killed (as by accident)

Legal Definition

casualty

noun

ca·​su·​al·​ty ˈka-zhəl-tē, ˈka-zhə-wəl- 

plural casualties

1

: an unfortunate occurrence

especially : a serious and often disastrous accident

conversion of property…arising from fire, storm, shipwreck, or other casualty

—Internal Revenue Code

2

: something lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed see also casualty gain at gain, casualty loss at loss