Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- great destruction or devastation; ruinous damage.
verb (used with object), hav·ocked, hav·ock·ing.
- to work havoc upon; devastate.
verb (used without object), hav·ocked, hav·ock·ing.
- to work havoc: The fire havocked throughout the house.
- cry havoc, to warn of danger or disaster.
- play havoc with,
- to create confusion or disorder in: The wind played havoc with the papers on the desk.
- to destroy; ruin: The bad weather played havoc with our vacation plans.
noun
- destruction; devastation; ruin
- informal confusion; chaos
- cry havoc archaic to give the signal for pillage and destruction
- play havoc (often foll by with) to cause a great deal of damage, distress, or confusion (to)
verb -ocs, -ocking or -ocked
- (tr) archaic to lay waste
early 15c., from Anglo-French havok in phrase crier havok “cry havoc” (late 14c.), a signal to soldiers to seize plunder, from Old French havot “pillaging, looting,” related to haver “to seize, grasp,” hef “hook,” probably from a Germanic source (see hawk (n.)), or from Latin habere “to have, possess.” General sense of “devastation” first recorded late 15c.
see cry havoc; play havoc.