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/dəbˈɑkəl/ Listen

noun

Debacle n.

(Geol.) A breaking or bursting forth; a violent rush or flood of waters which breaks down opposing barriers, and hurls forward and disperses blocks of stone and other débris.

A sudden breaking up or breaking loose; a violent dispersion or disruption; impetuous rush; outburst.

A complete and ludicrous failure; a rout, as of an army; a great disaster; a fiasco.

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Etymology of 'Debacle'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Debacle" Quotes from Famous Books

... small stream is actually blocked with German stores, including much gun ammunition. The German advance which ended in this debacle has been the costliest defeat in point of materials which ...

— The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol 1, Issue 4, January 23, 1915 • Various

... officers. "They will take us four in, and the men must picket their horses in the courtyard and street, and lie down in their cloaks. Tomorrow we will see what is to be done, and how many have escaped from the terrible debacle." ...

— The Cornet of Horse - A Tale of Marlborough's Wars • G. A. Henty

... Government is definitely established as in England now, the alternatives for trust are either to hold aloof in despair awaiting the debacle, to resist to the bitter end with a result like that which Stephenson said would occur if a cow attempted to stop his locomotive, or to try humbug and flattery. You do not flatter those you trust. We are not speaking of that delightful ...

— Rebuilding Britain - A Survey Of Problems Of Reconstruction After The World War • Alfred Hopkinson

... he?—and hadn't meant to play, so he'd banked all the money. He hadn't the courage, poor chap, to tell you what really happened. He's simply sick over it, so I offered to see you. In a way, it was true, what he said. The bank has got the money, only—it's the Casino bank. Dauntrey had an awful debacle to-day, the first time since he's been playing for you, and lost everything; not only your capital, of course, but his own too. It's your money he's so sick about, though. He could stand the loss of his own, though it's a blow, and I don't quite know what we shall do. But to lose yours! He's ...

— The Guests Of Hercules • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... was captured. Doughboys were quick to offer her comforting assurances that he would be treated well because American "Y" men had done so much in Russia for the Russian soldiers before the Bolshevik debacle. And when they heard that he was actually on his way to Moscow with fair chance of liberation, they crowded the taplooska Ryal home and made it ...

— The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki - Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919 • Joel R. Moore

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