| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| debacle |
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| SYLLABICATION: | de·ba·cle |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  d -bä k l, -b kl, d b-kl |
| NOUN: | 1. A sudden, disastrous collapse, downfall, or defeat; a rout. 2. A total, often ludicrous failure. 3. The breaking up of ice in a river. 4. A violent flood. | | ETYMOLOGY: | French débâcle, from débâcler, to unbar, from Old French desbacler : des-, de- + bacler, to bar (from Vulgar Latin *baccul re, from Latin baculum, rod; see bak- in Appendix I).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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