damage
[verb]
Synonyms:
- harm, hurt, impair, injure, ruin, spoil, weaken, wreck
[noun]
Synonyms:
- harm, destruction, detriment, devastation, hurt, injury, loss, suffering
- cost, bill, charge, expense

---

Antonyms: repair
Contrasted words: amelioration, betterment, improvement, benefit, profit, advantage, service, use, ameliorate, amend, better, improve, mend
Related Words: impairment, marring, deterioration, dilapidation, disrepair, ruining, wrecking, deleteriousness, disadvantage, drawback, demolish, destroy, raze, ruin, wreck, deteriorate, dilapidate, abuse, ill-treat, maltreat, mistreat, misuse, outrage

---

English Thesaurus: damage, harm, spoil, vandalize, sabotage, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. dam‧age¹ S3 W2 /ˈdæmɪdʒ/ noun
[Word Family: noun: damage, damages; verb: damage; adjective: damaging]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: dam 'damage', from Latin damnum; ⇒ damn⁴]

1. PHYSICAL HARM [uncountable] physical harm that is done to something or to a part of someone’s body, so that it is broken or injured
damage to
damage to property
These chemicals have been found to cause serious environmental damage.
There may be permanent brain damage. brain .
His eyesight suffered irreparable damage.

2. EMOTIONAL HARM [uncountable] harm caused to someone’s emotions or mind:
The death of a parent can cause long-lasting psychological damage.

3. BAD EFFECT [uncountable] a bad effect on something
damage to
The damage to his reputation was considerable.
The closure of the factory will cause severe damage to the local economy.
damage limitation/control
the attempts at political damage control during the scandal

4. damages [plural] law money that a court orders someone to pay to someone else as a punishment for harming them or their property ⇒ compensation:
The court awarded him £15,000 in damages.

5. the damage is done used to say that something bad has happened which makes it impossible to go back to the way things were before it happened:
She immediately apologized, but the damage was done.

6. what’s the damage? spoken used humorously to ask how much you have to pay for something

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. damage² S3 W3 verb [transitive]
[Word Family: noun: damage, damages; verb: damage; adjective: damaging]

1. to cause physical harm to something or to part of someone’s body:
insects that damage crops
badly/severely/seriously damage
Smoking can severely damage your health.

2. to have a bad effect on something or someone in a way that makes them weaker or less successful:
The changes in share values have damaged investor confidence.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

damage
noun
I. harm/injury
ADJ. considerable, enormous, great, serious, severe, substantial, untold | minor, slight | extensive, widespread | irreparable, irreversible, lasting, long-term, permanent The incident did permanent damage to relations between the two countries.
criminal, malicious, wilful He was prosecuted for criminal damage to a vehicle.
accidental The insurance policy covers the building for accidental damage.
emotional, environmental, mechanical, psychological, structural | brain She suffered serious brain damage at birth.
VERB + DAMAGE cause, do, inflict The earthquake caused widespread damage to property. They inflicted severe psychological damage on their opponents.
suffer | repair | prevent
PREP. ~ by The palace suffered extensive damage by fire in 1825. | ~ from Crops are sprayed with chemicals to prevent damage from insects.
~ to lasting damage to the environment
PHRASES the cost/value of the damage The cost of the damage is estimated at around $2 billion.
the extent of the damage At the moment it is difficult to assess the extent of the damage.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

damage
II. damages: money you can claim from sb
ADJ. heavy, substantial
VERB + DAMAGE incur, suffer damages incurred by the unfairly sacked workers
claim, seek, sue (sb) for He decided to sue the company for damages.
assess The court will assess the damages. | apportion, award (sb) | pay (sb) | obtain, receive, recover, win | be liable for, be liable in (law) If goods are lost in transit, the carrier will be liable for damages.
DAMAGE + NOUN action, claim A woman is to bring a civil damages action against the men she alleges murdered her son.
award
PREP. in ~ They are claiming £45 million in damages.
~ for He received damages for personal injury.
~ of She was awarded damages of £90,000.
PHRASES an action/a claim for damages The judge upheld her claim for damages against her former employer.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

damage
verb
ADV. badly, seriously, severely The building was badly damaged by fire.
slightly | irreparably, permanently She may have damaged her health irreparably.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

damage

do damage
Too much sun can do severe damage to your skin.
cause damage
We surveyed the damage caused by the bomb.
suffer/sustain damage formal
She has suffered damage to her hearing.
repair the damage
The cost of repairing the damage could be around £300 million.
prevent/avoid damage
Young trees need protecting to prevent damage from the wind.
serious/severe
The earthquake caused severe damage to a number of buildings.
extensive/widespread (=covering a large area)
Because of the size of the bomb, the damage was extensive.
permanent/irreparable/irreversible damage (=that cannot be repaired)
By smoking for so long, she may have suffered irreversible damage to her health.
minor damage
Fortunately, the fire caused only minor damage.
physical damage
There is considerable evidence that the drug can cause physical damage.
structural damage (=to the structure of a building)
The building was checked for structural damage.
environmental damage
The programme will concentrate on reducing environmental damage and pollution.
fire/storm/flood etc damage (=caused by fire, storm, flood etc)
The campsite suffered extensive flood damage.
brain/liver/nerve etc damage
If you drink a lot of alcohol it can cause liver damage.
accidental damage (=caused by an accident)
The insurance covers you for accidental damage to your possessions while you are on holiday.
criminal damage (=caused by someone committing a crime)
The boy was charged with criminal damage after setting fire to his girlfriend’s house.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

damage
I.
noun
1.
BAD: The fire caused a lot of damages.
GOOD: The fire caused a lot of damage.
BAD: The car crashed into a tree and suffered a severe damage.
GOOD: The car crashed into a tree and suffered severe damage.

Usage Note:
In its usual meaning, damage is an uncountable noun: 'The insurance company will pay for any damage.' 'The ceiling had suffered a great deal of damage.'
damages (plural noun) = a sum of money that someone is awarded in a court of law: 'She was awarded $3000 in damages.' 'She claimed damages of £2000 for wrongful dismissal.'

---

2.
BAD: The floods made a lot of damage.
GOOD: The floods did/caused a lot of damage.
BAD: Most of the damage has been produced by acid rain.
GOOD: Most of the damage has been caused by acid rain.

Usage Note:
do/cause damage (NOT make or produce ): 'According to local farmers, the rabbits do a lot of damage to the crops.' 'It's the gas from fridges that causes most of the damage.'
DO · HAVE · MAKE · TAKE
Many phrases begin with a very common very such as do, make, have, or take : ‘I felt very nervous about taking the test but, after having a long talk with Mrs Fisher, I decided I would just do my best and try not to make too many silly mistakes .’ These verbs can be combined with some nouns but not with others and since they do not have a clear meaning of their own, choosing the right combination can be a problem. Phrases which tend to cause difficulty are shown below.
HAVE
have a bath (or esp. AmE take ) ‘She’s probably upstairs having a bath.’
Have (your) breakfast ‘We usually have breakfast in the kitchen.’
Have (your) dinner ‘We had dinner and then went for a walk.’
Have a drink ‘I’ll collapse if I don’t have a drink soon.’
Have (an) experience ‘He has no experience of running a large company.’
Have fun ‘You can’t stop people from having fun.’
Have a holiday ‘It’s almost a year since we had a real holiday.’
Have an interview ‘I’ve had six interviews but no one has offered me a job.’
Have a lesson ‘Every morning we have three fifty-minute lessons.’
Have (your) lunch ‘Isn’t it about time we had lunch?’
Have an operation ‘Before I had the operation I could hardly walk.’
Have a party ‘On Saturday we’re having a party.’
Have a picnic ‘If it’s sunny we could have a picnic.’
Have a shower (or esp. AmE take) ‘It only takes me a minute to have a shower.’
TAKE
Take/do an examination ‘Why do we have to take so many tests?’
Take (your) medicine ‘Don’t forget to take your medicine.’
Take a pill ‘He refuses to take sleeping pills.’
Take/do a test ‘The last test I took was a disaster.’
MAKE
Make an effort ‘I had to make a big effort not to laugh.’
Make a journey ‘It was the first journey he’d made all on his own.’
Make a mistake ‘He has made a serious mistake.’
Make a noise ‘How can one small child make so much noise?’
Make progress ‘I made very little progress at the start of the course.’
DO
Do your best ‘Don’t worry, Tim. Just do your best.’
Do (or cause) damage ‘The storm did a lot of damage to the crops.’
Do an exercise ‘Have you done your exercises today?’
Do an experiment ‘To do this experiment, you’ll need two eggs.’
Do (sb) good ‘The holiday has done him a lot of good.’
Do harm ‘A scandal would do his reputation a lot of harm.’
Do your homework ‘Have you done your homework yet?’
Do a job ‘I’ve got one or two jobs to do this evening.’
Do the/some shopping ‘Jake has gone into town to do some shopping.’
Do research ‘We need to do a lot more research.’
Do things ‘We’ve done lots of different things today.’
Do your training ‘Where did you do your training?’
Note also: do something/anything etc: ‘I can’t come now – I’m doing something.’ ‘He hasn’t done anything wrong.'

---

3.
BAD: The bomb caused extensive damage of the surrounding buildings.
GOOD: The bomb caused extensive damage to the surrounding buildings.
BAD: We all know about the damage that smoking can do in our health.
GOOD: We all know about the damage that smoking can do to our health.

Usage Note:
(cause/do) damage to sth : 'Lack of oxygen can cause serious damage to the brain.' 'The scandal did a great deal of damage to his reputation.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

damage
II.
verb
BAD: The driver was very lucky and was only slightly damaged.
GOOD: The driver was very lucky and was only slightly hurt.
BAD: During the protests, some students were killed and others were seriously damaged.
GOOD: During the protests, some students were killed and others were seriously injured/wounded.

Usage Note:
Damaged is used in connection with things or parts of your body (NOT people): 'The engine was too badly damaged to be repaired.' 'The cause of the oil leak was a damaged pipeline.'
People are hurt or injured (badly hurt) in an accident, earthquake, hurricane etc: 'The scaffolding collapsed, killing one of the construction workers and injuring two passers-by.'
Someone who is injured by a weapon, such as a gun or knife, is wounded : 'He is accused of wounding a fellow prisoner.' 'The wounded soldiers were sent home for medical treatment.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

damage to cause physical harm to something or someone, or have a bad effect on them:
Several buildings were damaged by the earthquake.
The other car wasn’t damaged.
The scandal could damage his career.
harm to have a bad effect on something:
They use chemicals that will harm the environment.
The oil crisis could harm the economy.
spoil to have a bad effect on something and make it less successful, enjoyable, useful etc:
We didn’t let the rain spoil our holiday.
Local people say the new buildings will spoil the view.
vandalize to deliberately damage buildings, vehicles, or public property:
All the public telephones in the area had been vandalized.
sabotage /ˈsæbətɑːʒ/ to secretly damage machines or equipment so that they cannot be used, especially in order to harm an enemy:
There is evidence that the airplane was sabotaged.
tamper with something to deliberately and illegally damage or change a part of something in order to prevent it from working properly:
The car’s brakes had been tampered with.
desecrate to damage a church or other holy place:
The church had been desecrated by vandals.
deface /dɪˈfeɪs/ to deliberately spoil the appearance of something by writing on it, spraying paint on it etc:
Someone had defaced the statue and painted it bright orange.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

harm to have a bad effect on someone or something:
Many women said parenthood harmed their careers.
A little hard work never harmed anyone.
damage to harm something badly. Damage is more serious than harm:
His reputation was damaged and his career was in ruins.
The affair has damaged people’s confidence in the government.
be bad for somebody/something to be likely to harm someone or something:
Too much fatty food is bad for you.
All this rain is bad for business.
be detrimental to something formal to be bad for something:
The new housing development will be detrimental to the character of this small town.
impair formal to harm something, especially someone’s ability to do something or the correct working of a system:
Any amount of alcohol that you drink will impair your ability to drive.
His vision was impaired.
prejudice /ˈpredʒədəs, ˈpredʒʊdəs/ to have a bad effect on the future success of something:
Don’t do anything to prejudice our chances of winning.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

prejudice an unreasonable dislike and distrust of people who are different from you in some way, especially because of their race, sex, religion etc:
racial prejudice
prejudice against women
discrimination the practice of treating one group of people differently from another in an unfair way:
There is widespread discrimination against older people.
the laws on sex discrimination
intolerance an unreasonable refusal to accept beliefs, customs, and ways of thinking that are different from your own:
religious intolerance
There is an atmosphere of intolerance in the media.
bigotry a completely unreasonable hatred for people of a different race, religion etc, based on strong and fixed opinions:
religious bigotry
the bigotry directed at Jews and other ethnic groups
racism/racial prejudice unfair treatment of people because they belong to a different race:
Many black people have been the victims of racism in Britain.
Some immigrant groups faced racism, for example Jews and Italians, while others, such as Scandinavians, did not.
sexism the belief that one sex, especially women, is weaker, less intelligent etc than the other, especially when this results in someone being treated unfairly:
sexism in language
She accused him of sexism.
ageism (also agism American English) unfair treatment of people because they are old:
The new law aims to stop ageism in the workplace.
homophobia prejudice towards or hatred of gay people:
homophobia in the armed forces
xenophobia /ˌzenəˈfəʊbiə $ -ˈfoʊ-/ hatred and fear of foreigners:
the xenophobia of the right-wing press
anti-Semitism a strong feeling of hatred toward Jewish people:
Is anti-Semitism on the increase?
Islamophobia hatred and fear of Muslims:
the rise of Islamophobia and right-wing extremism in Europe
gay/union/America etc bashing unfair public criticism of gay people, union members, the American government etc:
The minister was accused of union bashing.
There's so much America-bashing in the liberal press.
racist someone who treats people of other races unfairly or badly:
When he expressed his opinion, he was branded a racist.
bigot someone who has strong unreasonable opinions, especially about race or religion:
a racist bigot
sexist someone, especially a man, who believes that their sex is better, more intelligent, more important etc than the other:
Will the sexists ever support a female President?
harm to have a bad effect on someone or something:
Many women said parenthood harmed their careers.
A little hard work never harmed anyone.
damage to harm something badly. Damage is more serious than harm:
His reputation was damaged and his career was in ruins.
The affair has damaged people’s confidence in the government.
be bad for somebody/something to be likely to harm someone or something:
Too much fatty food is bad for you.
All this rain is bad for business.
be detrimental to something formal to be bad for something:
The new housing development will be detrimental to the character of this small town.
impair formal to harm something, especially someone’s ability to do something or the correct working of a system:
Any amount of alcohol that you drink will impair your ability to drive.
His vision was impaired.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲