havoc

English

Alternative forms

• havock (e.g. in Milton)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈhæv.ək/, X-SAMPA: /"h{v.@k/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

havoc (uncountable)

1. devastation, destruction

   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The People that Time Forgot^[1], edition HTML, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:

     But when I had come to that part of the city which I judged to have contained the relics I sought I found havoc that had been wrought there even greater than elsewhere.

2. mayhem

Usage notes

The noun havoc is most often used in the set phrase wreak havoc.

Derived terms

• play havoc, raise havoc, wreak havoc, cry havoc, break havoc

Translations

devastation

• Dutch: verwoesting (nl) f
• Finnish: hävitys, tuho, vahinko
• French: chaos (fr) m
• German: Zerstörung (de) f
• Hindi: नाश (hi) (nāś)

• Italian: rovina (it) f, distruzione (it) f, strage (it) f
• Polish: spustoszenie (pl)
• Portuguese: destruição (pt) f, devastação (pt) f, ruína (pt) f
• Russian: опустошение (ru) (opustošénije) n, разрушение (ru) (razrušénije) n
• Spanish: estrago (es) m

mayhem

• Finnish: kaaos (fi), sekasorto (fi)

• Russian: беспорядок (ru) (besporjádok) m, хаос (ru) (xáos, xaós) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: chaos m

Verb

havoc (third-person singular simple present havocs, present participle havocking, simple past and past participle havocked)

1. To pillage.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act I, Scene II:

     To tear and havoc more than she can eat.

2. To cause havoc.

Usage notes

As with other verbs ending in vowel + -c, The gerund-participle is sometimes spelled havocing, and the preterite and past participle is sometimes spelled havoced; for citations using these spellings, see their respective entries. However, the spellings havocking and havocked are far more common. Compare panic, picnic.

Interjection

havoc

1. A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.
   • Toone

     Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt / With modest warrant.

   • Shakespeare

     Cry "havoc", and let slip the dogs of war!