Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage  Date:
1500-1600 Language: French Origin: désastre, from Italian
disastro, from astro 'star' (from the idea of luck coming from
the stars)   di‧sas‧ter S2 W3 [uncountable and countable] 1 a
sudden event such as a flood, storm, or accident which causes
great damage or suffering [↪ catastrophe]COLLOCATIONS
COLLOCATIONS air disaster nuclear disaster natural disaster
(=caused by nature) ecological/environmental disaster (=one that
causes great damage to nature) end in disaster spell disaster
(=mean that there will be disaster) disaster strikes (=it
happens) on the brink of disaster prevent/avert a disaster
something is a disaster waiting to happen One hundred and twenty
people died in China's worst air disaster. the economic
consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster disaster for The
oil spill was a disaster for Alaskan sea animals. The 1987
hurricane was the worst natural disaster to hit England for
decades. Their expedition nearly ended in disaster, when o