havoc

Use Havoc in a sentence

noun

great destruction or devastation; ruinous damage.

verb (used with object)

to work havoc upon; devastate.

verb (used without object)

to work havoc: The fire havocked throughout the house.

Idioms

cry havoc, to warn of danger or disaster.

play havoc with,

to create confusion or disorder in: The wind played havoc with the papers on the desk.

to destroy; ruin: The bad weather played havoc with our vacation plans.

Origin:
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

Related forms

hav·ock·er, noun

Synonyms
1. desolation, waste. See ruin.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To havoc

00:10

Havoc is one of our favorite verbs.

So is subtilize. Does it mean:

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

havoc (ˈhævək)

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

—vb , -ocs, -ocking, -ocked
5.	archaic (tr) to lay waste

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

havoc

1419, from Anglo-Fr. havok in phrase crier havok "cry havoc" (1385), a signal to soldiers to seize plunder, from O.Fr. havot "plundering, devastation" (fr. avoir), from a Gmc. source (see hawk (n.)), or from L. habere "to have, possess." General sense of "devastation" first recorded c.1480.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

havoc

see cry havoc; play havoc.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences

They wreak environmental havoc and people can turn to reusable bags or

cellulose bags.

Because of the relative immaturity of the gut, they may absorb more virus and

that wreaks more havoc on the intestines.

The same solar weather that triggers the aurora can also play havoc with radio