casualty
noun
ca·su·al·ty
ˈka-zhəl-tē 
ˈkazh-wəl-,
ˈka-zhə-wəl-
plural casualties
1
a
: a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action
The army sustained heavy casualties.
b
: a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed : victim
the ex-senator was a casualty of the last election
2
: serious or fatal accident : disaster
losses from fire, storm, or other casualty—
J. S. Seidman
J. S. SeidmanExamples of casualty in a Sentence
a low number of casualties
the real casualties in the war against drugs are millions of innocent children
Recent Examples on the Web
Watson, 46, who as deputy criminal chief was serving in one of the office’s senior positions, became another casualty in President Donald Trump’s mission to purge anyone found to have worked in some way for special counsel Jack Smith.
—Jay Weaver
july 14, Miami Herald, 14 July 2025
The Battle of the Somme ground on for another four months, at the cost of more than a million British, French, and German casualties.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 13 July 2025
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) tactics, chosen mostly to minimize casualties among their ground troops, have by now killed over 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
—Daniel R. Depetris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the war, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the U.N. human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday, as Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles than the same month last year.
—arkansasonline.com, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for casualty
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jay Weaver
july 14, Miami Herald, 14 July 2025
The Battle of the Somme ground on for another four months, at the cost of more than a million British, French, and German casualties.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 13 July 2025
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) tactics, chosen mostly to minimize casualties among their ground troops, have by now killed over 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
—Daniel R. Depetris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the war, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the U.N. human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday, as Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles than the same month last year.
—arkansasonline.com, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for casualty
Cite this Entry
“Casualty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/casualty. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
casualty
noun
ca·su·al·ty
ˈkazh-əl-tē
ˈkazh-(ə-)wəl-
plural casualties
1
: a serious or fatal accident : disaster
2
a
: a military person lost (as by death or capture) during warfare
b
: a person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed
Medical Definition
casualty
noun
ca·su·al·ty
ˈkazh-əl-tē, ˈkazh-(ə-)wəl-
plural casualties
1
: a serious or fatal accident
2
: a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in action
3
a
: injury or death from accident
b
: one injured or killed (as by accident)
Legal Definition
casualty
noun
ca·su·al·ty
ˈka-zhəl-tē, ˈka-zhə-wəl-
plural casualties
1
: an unfortunate occurrence
especially
: a serious and often disastrous accident
conversion of property…arising from fire, storm, shipwreck, or other casualty —Internal Revenue Code
Internal Revenue Code 2
: something lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed see also casualty gain at gain, casualty loss at loss
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share