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

There are currently more than 110 million land mines buried across the world, and in 2023, mines killed or injured 5,700 people, with civilians making up 84 percent of casualties—half of which were children. —Ritsuko Kawai, WIRED, 4 Dec. 2024

Russia has not only lost soldiers in terms of casualties, but also due to desertions, as an entire regiment of more than 1,000 soldiers left the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division of the Russian Armed Forces. —Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2024

His administration also dramatically reduced drone strikes, and with them the civilian casualties that too often accompanied those strikes. —Nancy Okail, Foreign Affairs, 3 Dec. 2024

Early last month, Cannon’s crew dove into an aquatic mass grave with millions of casualties. —Denise Hruby, Sun Sentinel, 2 Dec. 2024

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