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havoc

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hav⋅oc

  [hav-uhk] noun, verb, -ocked, -ock⋅ing.
Use havoc in a Sentence
–noun
1. great destruction or devastation; ruinous damage.
–verb (used with object)
2. to work havoc upon; devastate.
–verb (used without object)
3. to work havoc: The fire havocked throughout the house.
—Idioms
4. cry havoc, to warn of danger or disaster.
5. play havoc with,
a. to create confusion or disorder in: The wind played havoc with the papers on the desk.
b. to destroy; ruin: The bad weather played havoc with our vacation plans.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME havok < AF (in phrase crier havok to cry havoc, i.e., utter the command havoc! as signal for pillaging), MF havot in same sense < Gmc

Related forms:
hav⋅ock⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. desolation, waste. See ruin.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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"Havoc" (2005) DVD
Drama. Anne Hathaway/Bijou Phillips 1000s of titles not found elsewhere
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hav·oc   (hāv'ək)   
n.  

  1. Widespread destruction; devastation.

  2. Disorder or chaos: a wild party that created havoc in the house.

tr.v.   hav·ocked, hav·ock·ing, hav·ocs
To destroy or pillage.

[Middle English havok, from Anglo-Norman (crier) havok, (to cry) havoc, variant of Old French havot, plundering, of Germanic origin.]
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

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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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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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