havoc

[ hav-uhk ]
/ ˈhæv ək /

noun

great destruction or devastation; ruinous damage.

verb (used with object), hav·ocked, hav·ock·ing.

to work havoc upon; devastate.

verb (used without object), hav·ocked, hav·ock·ing.

to work havoc: The fire havocked throughout the house.

Idioms for havoc

    cry havoc, to warn of danger or disaster.
    play havoc with,
    1. to create confusion or disorder in: The wind played havoc with the papers on the desk.
    2. to destroy; ruin: The bad weather played havoc with our vacation plans.

Origin of havoc

1400–50; late Middle English havok < Anglo-French (in phrase crier havok to cry havoc, i.e., utter the command havoc! as signal for pillaging), Middle French havot in same sense < Germanic

SYNONYMS FOR havoc

1 desolation, waste. See ruin.

OTHER WORDS FROM havoc

hav·ock·er, noun

Words nearby havoc

haversian system, haversine, havilah, haviland, havildar, havoc, havre, havurah, havírov, haw, haw-haw

British Dictionary definitions for cry havoc

havoc
/ (ˈhævək) /

noun

destruction; devastation; ruin
informal confusion; chaos
cry havoc archaic to give the signal for pillage and destruction
play havoc (often foll by with) to cause a great deal of damage, distress, or confusion (to)

verb -ocs, -ocking or -ocked

(tr) archaic to lay waste

Word Origin for havoc

C15: from Old French havot pillage, probably of Germanic origin

Idioms and Phrases with cry havoc (1 of 2)

cry havoc

Sound an alarm or warning, as in In his sermon the pastor cried havoc to the congregation's biases against gays. The noun havoc was once a command for invaders to begin looting and killing the defenders' town. Shakespeare so used it in Julius Caesar (3:1): “Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the dogs of war.” By the 19th century the phrase had acquired its present meaning.

Idioms and Phrases with cry havoc (2 of 2)

havoc

see cry havoc; play havoc.