damage meaning

damage means 'harm or injury to something or someone'.

damage :

harm, injury

noun

▪ The storm caused a lot of damage.

▪ The storm caused a lot of harm.

▪ There was damage to the car.

▪ There was harm to the car.

paraphrasing

▪ harm – injury

▪ destruction – ruin

▪ impairment – weakening

▪ detriment – disadvantage

damage

damage :

to harm, to injure

verb

▪ The fire damaged the building.

▪ The fire harmed the building.

▪ Water can damage electronics.

▪ Water can harm electronics.

paraphrasing

▪ harm – to injure

▪ ruin – to spoil

▪ impair – to weaken

▪ spoil – to ruin

Pronunciation

damage [ˈdæm.ɪdʒ]

The stress is on 'dam' and sounds like 'dam-ij'.

Common phrases and grammar about damage

damage - Common meaning

noun
harm, injury
verb
to harm, to injure

Part of Speech Changes for "damage"

▪ damaging (adjective) – causing harm

▪ damaged (adjective) – harmed or injured

Common Expressions with "damage"

▪ cause damage – to make harm happen

▪ suffer damage – to get harmed

▪ repair damage – to fix harm

▪ prevent damage – to stop harm

Important examples of damage in TOEIC

Vocabulary examples from the TOEIC test

In TOEIC vocabulary questions, damage is often used to refer to harm to objects or property.

▪The flood caused severe damage to the town.
▪The flood caused severe harm to the town.

Example of a confusing word: injure (to harm a person or animal)

▪The flood caused severe injure to the town.
▪The flood injured many people in the town.
"Damage" is a noun meaning "harm or destruction" typically related to objects or property, as in "damage to the town." It is used correctly here. "Injure" is a verb that means "to harm a person or animal" and is not used to describe harm to inanimate objects or property. Saying "caused severe injure" is incorrect because "injure" is a verb, not a noun, and cannot be used in this context. Therefore, "damage" is the correct choice for referring to harm to property.

Grammar examples from the TOEIC test

Damage is used as both a noun and a verb in TOEIC grammar questions, often requiring identification of the correct form.

▪The car was damaged in the accident.
▪The car was harmed in the accident.

damage

Idioms and fixed expressions in TOEIC

damage control

means 'efforts to minimize harm', used in crisis situations.

▪The team is doing damage control after the incident.
▪The team is trying to reduce harm after the incident.

collateral damage

means 'unintended harm', often used in military contexts.

▪The operation resulted in collateral damage.
▪The operation caused unintended harm.

Differences between similar words and damage

damage

,

harm

differences

Damage refers to physical injury or harm, while harm can be physical or emotional.

damage
▪The storm damaged the roof.
▪The storm harmed the roof.
harm
▪The news harmed her feelings.
▪The news hurt her feelings.

damage

,

destruction

differences

Damage is harm that can often be repaired, while destruction means complete ruin.

damage
▪The vase was damaged but could be fixed.
▪The building was completely ruined by the fire.
destruction
▪The building was destroyed by the fire.
▪The building was completely ruined by the fire.

Words with the same origin as damage

The origin of damage

The word 'damage' comes from Old French 'damager', meaning to cause loss or harm.

Word structure

The analysis of the word's composition is unclear.

Words with the same origin

The word's root is unclear or difficult to confirm.

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