Definition of "debacle" []

• A sudden, disastrous collapse, downfall, or defeat; a rout. (noun)
• A total, often ludicrous failure. (noun)
• The breaking up of ice in a river. (noun)
• A violent flood. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "To say that this debacle was a debacle is a vast understatement."
• "Some experts predict that the only way out of the debacle is a huge settlement in which home-loan servicers modify the terms of billions of dollars of mortgages."
• "If this debacle is allowed to happen it will make the Jimmy Carter years look like paradise."