widespread damage
3
3.8
- noun
:
daño generalizado
- The storm caused widespread damage to homes and businesses throughout the region.
- cause widespread damage
Examples
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A nor'easter tore through the same area that saw homes flooded, massive power outages, and widespread damage.
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It is unclear if there were any deaths or injuries, but there was widespread damage.
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Reports of heavy widespread damage and casualties continue to come in
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Yesterday, Chicago suffered widespread damage from multiple tornadoes in Chicago.
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The unrest has caused widespread damage to property... and has left several people injured.
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New Yorkers woke up after the biggest storm in a decade to find widespread damage and parts of the city still without power.
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Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast of the U.S. this week, causing widespread damage and school closures.
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Consider New Jersey—wracked by widespread damage and power outages, crews from Southern, non-union states traveled hundreds of miles to help.
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Though nearly lined with gas stations, only two had both electricity and fuel to dispense as residents continue to cope with widespread damage and region-wide power outages resulting from Hurricane Sandy.
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In Connecticut, some residents of Fairfield returned home in kayaks and canoes to inspect widespread damage left by retreating floodwaters that kept other homeowners at bay.
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Synonyms
849
3.0
Severe damage that makes something no longer exist or cannot be fixed
110
4.3
Great damage to a wide area often caused by war or a big disaster
90
4.8
Great destruction that leaves places badly damaged, for example after a war or storm
1
4.8
Damage across a large area that destroys buildings and homes
1
6.5
A wide area that is badly damaged, often by war or natural disaster
A state of complete destruction that leaves a place ruined
How Extensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'extensive destruction affecting a large area' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'widespread' (occurring in many places) with 'damage' (harm or injury). This adjective+noun composition is compositional and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase widespread damage creates the image of damage spreading out over a large area because it pairs widespread (covering a wide space) with damage (broken or harmed things), like a storm that knocks down trees across a whole town. That's why it means 'extensive destruction' affecting many places or people.