Dictionary

doomsday event en · NOUN

Meanings

1. An occurrence which causes the end of the universe or which destroys the planet earth; a global cataclysm.
   • The universe will contract and grow hotter until the doomsday event that astronomers have dubbed "the big crunch." 1995 April 7, Malcolm W. Browne, “A Research Team Detects Many More Galaxies”, in New York Times, retrieved 05 Jul 2008:
   • Sceptics claim switching on the supercooled magnets could create a doomsday event that would destroy the Earth. 2008 July 2, “World to end in August (maybe)”, in New Zealand Herald, retrieved 05 Jul 2008:
   • In this subsection we face the question about the possibility of evading the doomsday event in phantom models of dark energy with interaction, which are inspired in scalar-tensor theories of gravity. 2006, Ruben Curbelo et al., “Interacting phantom energy and avoidance of the big rip singularity”, in Classical and Quantum Gravity, volume 23, number 5, page 1591:
2. A localized event causing widespread death or destruction within a specific geographical area.
   • An earthquake of as much as 7.3 magnitude . . . is the maximum predicted earthquake in Utah, said Johnson. "We could call that a doomsday event." 2007 May 8, Glen Warchol, “Earthquake-proof: Capitol is ready for a rumble”, in The Salt Lake Tribune:
   • A mysterious occurrence late in the story is the historically factual Tunguska Event, a massive Siberian explosion, probably by an asteroid, in the summer of 1908: a doomsday event caused by an arrival from another realm. 2006, Greg Hollingshead, "Let Pynchon be Pynchon" (review of Against the Day by Thomas_Pynchon), Globe and Mail (Toronto), 2 Dec., p. D6
3. (figuratively) A disastrous occurrence.
   • Protect them against molestation, but if it happens, don't overact and inflate it into a doomsday event. 1973, Joseph Church, Understanding Your Child from Birth to Three, →ISBN, page 175:
   • A record level of foreign reserves has made it unnecessary to devalue the currency—the doomsday event that terrifies finance ministries throughout the region. 1998 December 28, “The Year of Living Carefully: Challenges ahead for China in 1999”, in Business Week, page 30:
   • The Challenger explosion . . . became one big symbol for mankind. As the trauma diminishes in the weeks ahead, another meaning will emerge from the doomsday events. 1986 February 8, “Editorial: The flight that failed”, in The Nation, page 1:
   • "You just don't know if they are planning a doomsday event or not." Dunford said police worked with school officials to secure the building. 2007 May 22, Andy Nelesen, “Threat leads to security checks at Pulaski High School”, in Green Bay Press Gazette:

Forms

Relateds

doomsday device · doomsday bomb · doomsday weapon · extinction event