casualty

casualty — noun

1. someone hurt or killed during a war, a major accident, or a large-scale disaster

1.nounC2
Definition

someone hurt or killed during a war, a major accident, or a large-scale disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane

Example

The bus driver was the only casualty in the crash on the motorway.

collocation: only casualty / sole casualty

After the earthquake, rescue teams reported more than three hundred casualties.

plural form: casualties for total count

Common collocations
  • suffer casualties
  • cause casualties
  • inflict casualties
  • heavy casualties
  • light casualties
  • civilian casualties
  • military casualties
  • casualty figures
  • casualty count
Synonyms
  • victim

    broader term — applies to crime, bullying, natural disasters; casualty is more specific to accidents and war

  • fatality

    specifically refers to a death, not just injury; more common in traffic and workplace accident reports

  • injured

    used as a collective noun ('the injured') rather than a countable noun like casualty

Antonyms
  • survivor

    a person who lives through an accident or disaster

Grammar Patterns

casualty + of + war/accident/disaster

suffer + casualties

cause + casualties

Usage Note

Casualties is often used as a collective plural ('heavy casualties were suffered') rather than referring to named individuals. For a single person who died, fatality is more common in non-military contexts.

Common Mistakes

The earthquake victims included many casualties.
The earthquake caused many casualties.
Use 'cause' or 'suffer' with casualties rather than 'include'.

2. a person, organisation, or thing that is harmed, destroyed, or lost as a side ef

2.nounC1
Definition

a person, organisation, or thing that is harmed, destroyed, or lost as a side effect of a particular event, decision, or change in circumstances

Example

The small bookshops were the main casualties of the large shopping centre opening.

metaphorical use: casualty of [event/change]

Beatriz was one of the casualties of the company's decision to cut four hundred jobs.

Common collocations
  • first casualty
  • main casualty
  • early casualty
  • latest casualty
  • casualty of change
  • casualty of reform
  • casualty of war (metaphorical)
Synonyms
  • victim

    more general — casualty in this sense emphasises being harmed as a side effect rather than the direct target

  • sufferer

    used mainly for people; casualty can be a thing or organisation

  • sacrifice

    implies being given up intentionally; casualty implies harm as an unintended consequence

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

become + a casualty + of + noun phrase

the first + casualty + of + noun phrase

Usage Note

Most commonly follows the pattern 'a/the casualty of [change, decision, or event]'. The modifier 'first' appears very frequently ('the first casualty of…'), a fixed expression that learners can treat as a chunk.

Common Mistakes

The small shop is a casualty of the big supermarket.
The small shop was a casualty of the big supermarket opening nearby.
Use 'casualty of' with an event or process, not a person or place.

3. the section of a hospital that provides urgent medical care to people who have b

3.nounC2
Definition

the section of a hospital that provides urgent medical care to people who have been seriously injured in an accident or have become very ill without any warning

Example

Theo was rushed to casualty after he fell from his bicycle and broke his arm.

British phrase: 'to casualty' = to the emergency room

The night-shift nurse has worked in the casualty department for over twelve years.

collocation: casualty department

Common collocations
  • casualty department
  • casualty ward
  • casualty unit
  • go to casualty
  • be taken to casualty
  • work in casualty
Synonyms
  • emergency room

    American English equivalent — also called ER or emergency department

  • A&E

    short for Accident and Emergency; the standard term in British hospitals, interchangeable with casualty in everyday speech

Grammar Patterns

go to + casualty

in + casualty

the + casualty + department/ward

Usage Note

British English only. In American English the equivalent is the emergency room (ER) or emergency department. Do not use casualty as a countable noun in this sense — 'He was taken to casualty', not 'a casualty'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Casualty, victim, and fatality all refer to people harmed by negative events, but they differ in scope and context. Casualty is the broadest in the sense of covering both injury and death, but it is restricted to accidents, wars, and disasters — you would not normally call a fraud victim a casualty. Victim is the most general term and applies to any harmful act, from crime ('a victim of burglary') to illness ('a victim of the flu') to natural disaster ('flood victims'). Fatality is the narrowest: it always means a death, never an injury. It is the preferred term in official reports for traffic deaths ('three road fatalities this weekend') and workplace incidents. In news reporting, casualty is typically used for the total of injured and killed, while fatality breaks out the death count specifically. For example: 'The earthquake caused 200 casualties, including 45 fatalities.'

casualty ↗victim ↗fatality ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • first casualty of
  • heavy casualties

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin 'casualis' meaning 'by chance', from 'casus' meaning 'a fall' or 'an event'. The word came into English through French in the 1400s, originally meaning 'something determined by chance'. By the 1700s it had shifted to mean 'an accident or mishap', and by the 1800s it came to refer specifically to a person injured or killed in war — the sense that remains most common today. The hospital sense (short for 'casualty department') emerged in British English in the early 20th century.