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debacle

 - 3 dictionary results

de⋅ba⋅cle

  [dey-bah-kuhl, -bak-uhl, duh-]
Use debacle in a Sentence
–noun
1. a general breakup or dispersion; sudden downfall or rout: The revolution ended in a debacle.
2. a complete collapse or failure.
3. a breaking up of ice in a river. Compare embacle.
4. a violent rush of waters or ice.
Origin:
1795–1805; < F débâcle, deriv. of débâcler to unbar, clear, equiv. to dé- dis- 1 + bâcler to bar ≪ L baculum stick, rod

Synonyms:
2. disaster, ruin, fiasco, catastrophe, calamity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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de·ba·cle   (dĭ-bä'kəl, -bāk'əl, děb'ə-kəl)   
n.  

  1. A sudden, disastrous collapse, downfall, or defeat; a rout.

  2. A total, often ludicrous failure.

  3. The breaking up of ice in a river.

  4. A violent flood.


[French débâcle, from débâcler, to unbar, from Old French desbacler : des-, de- + bacler, to bar (from Vulgar Latin *bacculāre, from Latin baculum, rod; see bak- in Indo-European roots).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

debacle 
"disaster," 1848, fig. use of Fr. débâcle "breaking up of ice on a river," extended to the violent flood that follows when the river ice melts in spring, from débâcler "to free," from M.Fr. desbacler "to unbar," from des- "off" + bacler "to bar," from V.L. *bacculare, from L. baculum "stick." Sense of "disaster" was present in Fr. before Eng. borrowed the word.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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