havoc
nounverbinterjectionattested in dialogue
- United States//ˈhævək//
- United States//ˈhævɪk//
- Australia//ˈhævək//
- Australia//ˈhævɪk//
- //ˈhævək//
Widespread devastation and destruction.
noun
- 1
Widespread devastation and destruction.
I [Paul the Apostle] vvas going to Damaſcus vvith Letters from the High Prieſt to make Havock of God's People there, as I had made Havock of them in other places. Theſe bloody Letters vvas not impoſed upon me. I vvent to the High Prieſt and deſired them of him, Acts 9. 1, 2. And yet he [God] ſaved me!
Ye Gods, what Havock does Ambition make / Among your Works!
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.
Etymology
From Middle English havok, havyk, from Old French havok in the phrase crier havok (“cry havoc”) a signal to soldiers to seize plunder, from Old French crier (“cry out, shout”) + havot (“pillaging, looting”), of obscure origin. Probably from a derivative of Old French *haf, hef (“hook”), from Frankish *haf, *habbjā, *happjā (“pruning-hook, scythe”), derived from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to take up, lift”), related to Old French havee (“handful”), Old French havet (“pruning-hook”), Old High German habba, heppa (“pruning-hook, scythe”), modern German Hippe (“billhook”). If so, then also related to English heave and doublet of hatchet.
verb
- 1
To pillage.
To tear and havoc more than she can eat.
- 2
To cause havoc.
interjection
- 1
A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.
Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt / With modest warrant.
Cry "havoc", and let slip the dogs of war!
Forms
- plural
- havocs
- past tense
- havocked
- past participle
- havocked
- present participle
- havocking
- third person singular
- havocs