damage (damages plural & 3rd person present) (damaging present participle) (damaged past tense & past participle )
1 verb To damage an object means to break it, spoil it physically, or stop it from working properly.
He maliciously damaged a car with a baseball bat... V n
The sun can damage your skin. V n
2 verb To damage something means to cause it to become less good, pleasant, or successful.
(=harm)
Jackson doesn't want to damage his reputation as a political personality... V n
damaging adj
(=harmful)
Is the recycling process in itself damaging to the environment?
3 n-uncount Damage is physical harm that is caused to an object.
oft N to n
The blast caused extensive damage to the house..., Many professional boxers end their careers with brain damage.
4 n-uncount Damage consists of the unpleasant effects that something has on a person, situation, or type of activity.
oft N to n
Incidents of this type cause irreparable damage to relations with the community...
5 n-plural If a court of law awards damages to someone, it orders money to be paid to them by a person who has damaged their reputation or property, or who has injured them. He was vindicated in court and damages were awarded.
brain damage
If someone suffers brain damage, their brain is damaged by an illness or injury so that they cannot function normally. n-uncount
He suffered severe brain damage after a motorbike accident.
collateral damage
Collateral damage is accidental injury to non-military people or damage to non-military buildings which occurs during a military operation. n-uncount
To minimize collateral damage maximum precision in bombing was required.
damage limitation
Damage limitation is action that is taken to make the bad results of something as small as possible, when it is impossible to avoid bad results completely.
(BRIT) n-uncount
The meeting was merely an exercise in damage limitation...
in AM, use damage control
