HAVOC
What does "HAVOC" mean?
Widespread destruction or chaos.
Meanings
- Great destruction, devastation, or disorder. The flood wreaked havoc on the village.
Did you know?
- 'Havoc' was once a military command: to 'cry havoc' was the order to start pillaging, and under Richard II giving it without authority could cost a soldier his head.
"Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war."— William Shakespeare
Word origin
From Anglo-French 'havok', altered from Old French 'havot' ('plundering, pillage'); originally the military command 'cry havoc!', the order to soldiers to start looting.
Remember it
HAVOC: 'HAVe a Catastrophe' - and the C at the end is the chaos crashing in.
A little poem
One order, shouted once,
and the orderly town unlearns
every wall it trusted.
tercet
Wordplay
- I told my cat to play nice. He cried havoc and let slip the dogs of war - then knocked a glass off the table for emphasis.
What it teaches
Havoc takes one careless word to summon and a hundred careful ones to undo.
Quick facts
What does HAVOC mean?
Widespread destruction or chaos.
Is HAVOC a valid word?
Yes — HAVOC is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is HAVOC?
HAVOC has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does HAVOC come from?
From Anglo-French 'havok', altered from Old French 'havot' ('plundering, pillage'); originally the military command 'cry havoc!', the order to soldiers to start looting.
What can HAVOC teach us?
Havoc takes one careless word to summon and a hundred careful ones to undo.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.