- a sudden and widespread disaster: the catastrophe of war.
- any misfortune, mishap, or failure; fiasco: The play was so poor our whole evening was a catastrophe.
- a final event or conclusion, usually an unfortunate one; a disastrous end: the great catastrophe of the Old South at Appomattox.
- (in a drama) the point at which the circumstances overcome the central motive, introducing the close or conclusion; dénouement.
- a sudden, violent disturbance, especially of a part of the surface of the earth; cataclysm.
- any of the mathematical functions that describe the discontinuities that are treated in catastrophe theory.
- a sudden, extensive, or notable disaster or misfortune
- the denouement of a play, esp a classical tragedy
- a final decisive event, usually causing a disastrous end
- any sudden and violent change in the earth's surface caused by flooding, earthquake, or some other rapid process
