damage

damage — verb

1. to cause something to break, become less useful, or lose value — for example, cr

1.verbtransitiveA2
Definition

to cause something to break, become less useful, or lose value — for example, cracking a phone screen when you drop it, or hurting a friendship by lying.

Example

Élise dropped her phone and damaged the screen badly.

damage + physical object (screen)

Strong winds damaged several houses near the beach.

active with natural cause

Common collocations
  • damage + property/reputation/relationship/health
  • damage + by/from + [cause]
  • badly/severely/permanently damaged
Synonyms
  • harm

    broader — can apply to people, animals, or abstract things; 'damage' is more common for objects

  • spoil

    implies making something less enjoyable or effective, not necessarily breaking it

  • ruin

    stronger — suggests complete destruction of value or function

Antonyms
  • repair

    to fix something that has been damaged

  • preserve

    to keep something in good condition so it is not damaged

Grammar Patterns

damage + noun phrase

Usage Note

Commonly used in both physical and abstract contexts. The object can be an object, a body part, a relationship, or an abstract concept like reputation.

Common Mistakes

His careless words damaged her feelings.
His careless words hurt her feelings.
For emotions and feelings, use 'hurt' instead of 'damage,' which sounds too strong.

damage — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Damage, harm, spoil, ruin, and break all describe making something worse, but they differ in severity and scope. Damage often implies partial harm — the object is still usable but not as good as before, like a scratched table. Harm can be physical or emotional and often applies to living things, such as when pollution harms wildlife. Spoil means making something less enjoyable or effective without necessarily breaking it — a spoiled meal tastes bad but is still edible. Ruin suggests complete destruction of value or function, like a dress that can never be worn again. Break means physical separation into pieces, such as a dropped cup that shatters. For example: 'The storm damaged the roof but the house was still usable,' while 'The scandal ruined his career completely and he never worked in that field again.'

harm ↗spoil ↗ruin ↗break ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • cause damage to
  • suffer damage from
  • do damage to
  • repair the damage
  • pay (amount) in damages

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Damage comes from Latin 'damnum,' meaning loss or harm. It passed through Old French as 'damage' (later 'dommage') before entering Middle English around the 1300s. The verb form developed from the noun in the 14th century. The legal sense of 'damages' — money paid as compensation — has been used in English courts since the 15th century.