Dictionary

cowtastrophe en · NOUN

Etymology

Blend of cow + catastrophe.

Meanings

1. (humorous, informal) A catastrophe involving cattle.
   • Adrian College students corral two cows in the college chapel, and were so chumpy as to be caught at it. Ten boys must face the faculty for this cowtastrophe. 1904, Moderator Topics, volume 25, page 736:
   • "Mother, you wouldn't call that a catastrophe, would you?" inquired Artie, who could use words "as long as himself" his father sometimes declared. ¶ "Huh, that was a cowtastrophe," Fred said placidly. 1925, Alice Dale Hardy, The Riddle Club at Sunrise Beach, page 50:
   • As the reclining cow commonly rises first behind [...] with so close a shave upon a cow-tastrophe, I should not stand upon ceremony in the dark. 1859, Nathaniel Parker Willis, The Convalescent, page 24:
   • Earth faces a cow-tastrophe! The Earth could be on the brink of a death-dealing calamity — and belching cows are partly to blame. 1988 January 12, Weekly World News, volume 9, number 14, page 36:

Forms