noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a disaster zone
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The damage is so serious that the government has declared the city a disaster zone.
courted...disaster
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To have admitted this would have courted political disaster .
declared a disaster area (= officially called a disaster area )
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The town was declared a disaster area after the floods.
disaster area
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The town was declared a disaster area officially called a disaster area after the floods.
disaster recovery
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We need to increase the budget allocation for disaster recovery.
disaster struck
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Everything seemed to be going fine when suddenly disaster struck .
disaster/emergency relief
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Our objective is to provide food aid and emergency relief to developing countries.
imminent danger/threat/death/disaster etc
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He was in imminent danger of dying.
impending danger/doom/death/disaster etc
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She had a sense of impending disaster.
natural disasters (= things such as floods or earthquakes )
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natural disasters
on the brink of death/disaster/war etc
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In October 1962 the world seemed on the brink of nuclear war.
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The company had huge debts and was on the brink of collapse.
prophet of doom/disaster (= someone who says that bad things will happen )
recipe for disaster
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She said that five small boys on skis was a recipe for disaster , not a holiday.
total failure/disaster
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The sales campaign was a total disaster.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
ecological
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But if they do not leave, he said, ecological disaster could be as little as five or 10 years away.
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Rampart Dam, however, was an ecological disaster probably with-out precedent in the world.
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In sum, our nation was headed toward ecological disaster .
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Ben has adapted his zany thriller about ecological disaster and will play the lead.
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Then there was Nordhausen - an industrial centre which was an ecological disaster .
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But it's also a story of ecological disaster and man's excess.
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Tex Slampacker was referring to yet another man-made ecological disaster .
economic
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Preaching economic death and disaster may not be Labour's best tactic.
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Despite the economic disaster that had befallen his country in the decade he had held power, he was confident of victory.
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The human disaster for its victims and their families thus feeds into a social and economic disaster for the countries affected.
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Along with the carrot of pecuniary reward must go the stick of personal economic disaster .
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The coal strike alone will not cause the economic disaster that the Soviet government is pretending it will.
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The poll tax has been a social, political and economic disaster of historic proportions.
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Today the country totters on the edge of economic disaster .
environmental
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If there had been a bolt on my belay at Swanage it would not have been an environmental disaster .
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The result is that civil, socio-political and environmental disasters are now threatening the roots of our existence.
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Of course, the Third World has already had - and has - some considerable environmental disasters .
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Although the oil wells survived they where badly managed and an environmental disaster .
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Perhaps international pressure can stop this environmental disaster .
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By 1903 the spectre of that environmental disaster had vanished.
financial
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But it could mean the difference between financial security and financial disaster for you and your family should a serious accident strike.
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Sound accounting advice will make your business; lack of good accounting advice is a recipe for financial disaster .
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With reduced legal aid payouts and a tough new means test for applicants looming, it could spell financial disaster .
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But the experiment has been a financial and cultural disaster .
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Captain Hamilton Mahoney, despite his financial disasters , had been a loving, understanding, and exciting father.
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The only way to steer reclamation away from utter financial disaster in the Missouri Basin was to subsidize it with hydropower revenues.
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The project ended in financial disaster , and Vermuyden was temporarily imprisoned for not paying his debts.
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Yet an open-ended discussion with a lawyer can be a financial disaster for you.
great
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The house gives the impression of having been abandoned suddenly, in anticipation of some great disaster .
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I at once feared some great disaster .
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Nile perch: a fine food fish, but responsible for one of the greatest biological disasters of the twentieth century.
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After the great disaster of his failed health reforms, he rarely tried again to do anything bold.
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In the reign of Boris Goldgather a great disaster overtook the Empire.
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In its report, Topics 2000, the researchers have chronicled great natural disasters stretching back over the past 1,000 years.
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A great or major disaster is based on the number of people killed and the economic loss of the event.
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These figures move slowly around a terrain apparently laid waste by some great disaster .
ill
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This is the world's worst industrial disaster .
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Besides annihilating about 40,000 homes, the worst natural disaster in memory destroyed countless businesses and jobs.
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The other recalls what was for a long time Britain's worst air disaster .
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Many are calling this the worst humanitarian disaster in the world today.
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He calls the drought the worst natural disaster to hit Texas this century.
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The team from St Tiggywinkles say it's the worst disaster they've ever seen.
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All 39 hands perished in the worst shipping disaster in Teesside's history.
imminent
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For much of the past week I have had this dreadful, stomach-churning feeling of imminent disaster .
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Yet, by a miracle of defensive dexterity, Kasparov survived again and again from what looked like imminent disaster .
impending
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Nothing, she told herself, could be worse than this uncertainty, this sense of impending disaster .
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Earlier on, they had sensed impending disaster .
major
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Nothing barring a major disaster can prevent her from becoming a main attraction - Barbara Dennerlein is a star in the ascendant.
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In the past, comets were feared harbingers of important historical events, including invasions and major disasters .
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From a climbing, diving and industrial archaeological view, blowing up anything in this area would be a major disaster .
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A great or major disaster is based on the number of people killed and the economic loss of the event.
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Although major disasters such as large oil pollution incidents and deaths from pesticides are few, both cause continuing problems.
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The Great Idea had become a major disaster , she had been lucky to escape with her life.
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The final withdrawal without major disaster enabled them to preserve some profit.
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It crowns a long-term rise in catastrophe losses, even though the number of major disasters was below its mid-1980s peak.
national
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Dorset gentry were irritated at Dorchester folk's disregard of their social superiors; national politics brought disaster .
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To call such an occurrence a national disaster begs the point.
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The prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has said he will set up a national disaster agency.
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President Suharto declared a national disaster on Dec. 15.
natural
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Newsgroups are also highly popular as a means of tracing family members who may have fled conflict or natural disaster .
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During recent natural disasters , the Federal Emergency Management Agency has quickly sent out relief checks to thousands of residents.
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The plan is intended to protect the environment and reduce damage from natural disasters .
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Or a natural disaster may wipe out my offspring.
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In recent years, however, natural disasters and overgrazing have caused serious degeneration of grassland.
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Second, it could prevent us from dealing expeditiously with emergencies such as natural disasters or military threats.
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And the engineering marvel turned out to be a slow-motion natural disaster .
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But we have known the trauma of one natural disaster after another.
near
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Yet he kept his cool through these near-disasters , for which he earned universal respect.
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It took a couple of near disasters to set me straight.
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Once again, he had walked away from near disaster .
nuclear
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Two school authorities rejected the section on nuclear disasters .
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Whether this concern can prevent another Chernobyl-type nuclear reactor disaster remains to be seen.
potential
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Another potential disaster area was housing.
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Such uniform crops are breeding grounds of potential disaster due to vulnerability to pests or disease.
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Another potential disaster area is the canopy locking and jettison arrangements.
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Yablokov also warned of potential long term disasters caused by ruptures of oil and water pipelines.
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The Forestry Commission says there's the potential for disaster when the dumped cars are set alight.
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In today's world, the whole idea seems fraught with potential disaster .
total
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Miss Bingham's first band session was rather less than absolutely fabulous; in fact it was a total disaster .
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The answer may be one or both of these and only a careful rescue package can avert a total disaster .
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It could be as marvellous as you think it will be or it could be a total disaster .
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It might also be a total disaster and leave the chasm as wide as before.
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However, even a 10 % infection rate is a total disaster for any society.
unmitigated
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She had to admit that he would almost certainly not see the situation as an unmitigated disaster .
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On health and safety issues, however, deregulation has been an unmitigated disaster .
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So far, the tour had been an unmitigated disaster .
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What is happening in Assam is an unmitigated disaster .
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The raid itself was an unmitigated disaster .
■ NOUN
air
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The other recalls what was for a long time Britain's worst air disaster .
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Interview. he sez he saw the plaque and thought he'd see what was recorded on the air disaster .
area
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Another potential disaster area was housing.
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As far as my patients went, I became a walking disaster area .
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Almond said he may ask President Clinton to declare Rhode Island a disaster area , clearing the way for federal funds.
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Only this week, our shower and changing room have been declared a disaster area by the council.
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And many work units are virtual disaster areas in terms of fairness and worker satisfaction.
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Another potential disaster area is the canopy locking and jettison arrangements.
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Two engines were found in a lake nine miles from the disaster area .
relief
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Shawcross raises these questions within the context of disaster relief but they have a broader setting.
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For the first time the Soviet Government allowed foreign disaster relief organisations to enter its territory on a massive scale.
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The Mango concept is based on the well-established RedR service which helps agencies to recruit engineers for disaster relief operations.
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This allowed disaster relief experts to construct a new stone wall to reinforce the dam.
strike
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What happens before disaster strikes and long after journalists have forgotten it matters even more than rescue and relief.
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But most of this growing population is poor and marginalised, even before disaster strikes .
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Why, then, should their lives be of less value when disaster strikes ?
■ VERB
avert
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At a fairly young age I learnt to sniff out danger and step into choppy conversations to skilfully avert disaster .
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The answer may be one or both of these and only a careful rescue package can avert a total disaster .
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Leader comment, page 18 Driver averts tanker disaster .
avoid
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A good staff manoeuvred to avoid such disasters , attempting to manipulate the presentation of news.
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He made a television play but turned down all other offers that came his way, desperate to avoid another disaster .
bring
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It is estimated that one heavy rainstorm could bring disaster .
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Tightening credit might bring on disaster , he said.
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His monolithic Movement is unlikely to survive him; yet its disintegration may bring disaster .
cause
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She said that, contrary to popular opinion, traumas caused by such a disaster were not short-lived.
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Implementation of this plan does not guarantee that a microorganism will not cause disaster .
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The misunderstanding causes disaster when the mounted tom-cat discovers that the kitten is too small for mating.
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The coal strike alone will not cause the economic disaster that the Soviet government is pretending it will.
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Vertical integration has caused a crop of disasters .
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It's threatening to cause a huge ecological disaster .
court
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Miletos, on the other hand, had courted disaster , and Branchidai had suffered.
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She kept looking up because looking down would be to court disaster .
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She knew that the longer the relationship lasted, the more she courted disaster .
declare
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Only this week, our shower and changing room have been declared a disaster area by the council.
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Almond said he may ask President Clinton to declare Rhode Island a disaster area, clearing the way for federal funds.
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President Suharto declared a national disaster on Dec. 15.
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President Clinton declared federal disasters in 37 California counties, opening the way for low-interest loans and other federal aid.
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Many have been left homeless and the region was declared a disaster zone.
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After President Bush declared a disaster , Congress immediately appropriated $ 2. 7 billion in emergency assistance.
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Last night President Bush declared Hawaii a disaster area.
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Fife Symington declared the situation a disaster and released $ 200, 000 in state funds to help in the fight.
end
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It ends with humiliation and disaster all round.
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She had known it would end in disaster .
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New battles are prepared for, to end in new disasters .
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The ill-fated exchange had ended in disaster .
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It was an unnatural devotion which, to her mind, could end only in disaster .
happen
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What happens before disaster strikes and long after journalists have forgotten it matters even more than rescue and relief.
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BSo what happens when the disasters cease, as they have now for the past couple of years?
lead
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Experts say a forty foot crack in a medieval transept wall could have led to disaster .
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In those early years, pillage and embezzlement had already led to fearful disasters .
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Unsuccessful affairs could lead to personal disaster .
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After the closing of its distribution centers led to organizational disaster , the firm did its best to minimize these consequences.
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That is both why he has survived and why he has led his country to disaster .
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It is all designed to produce an instant of indecision, a moment of confusion that leads to disaster .
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An accidental experiment shows how a change of scene can lead to disaster .
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Nyamwisi Movingi had resigned from this post on March 22, accusing the government of leading the country to disaster .
prevent
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Other protesters blocked cars, demanding answers from a government they said moved too slowly to prevent the disaster .
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The only way to prevent more cycles of disaster was to build a civilization based on irrigated farming.
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This would help prevent such a disaster occurring again.
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Herewith some advice on preventing inconvenience turning into disaster .
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In 1991 the state adopted an update of the Uniform Plumbing Code to prevent such a disaster from happening.
prove
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Has not the experiment proved a disaster for vast numbers of national health service patients?
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This discussion was proving to be a disaster .
spell
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Staff here say that would spell disaster for hundreds of alcoholics.
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All of this spells a disaster for the stock market, Allmon contends.
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With reduced legal aid payouts and a tough new means test for applicants looming, it could spell financial disaster .
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It only rarely spells universal disaster .
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Delegated authority without a meaningful consultation process would spell disaster for teacher morale, motivation, commitment and hence effectiveness.
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After all, one case of the trots hardly spells disaster .
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You never come in this kitchen but you break something: when you help it spells disaster .
turn
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Even in bed, sweet pleasure had turned to disaster .
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Herewith some advice on preventing inconvenience turning into disaster .
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Top: The excitement of a new pond will quickly wane if it turns into a disaster area overnight.
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At the Games: Poorly organized and poorly attended, the Paris Games turn into a disaster .
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And what should have been a doddle for Lord Waddington turned into a disaster .
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But Oklahomans have always had a way of turning their recurrent disasters , both natural and man-made, into assets.
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But difficulty could turn to disaster for the region.
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From a financial point of view, the insurance has turned a disaster into an inconvenience.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a near disaster/collapse etc
an unmitigated disaster/failure/pleasure etc
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On health and safety issues, however, deregulation has been an unmitigated disaster.
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She had to admit that he would almost certainly not see the situation as an unmitigated disaster.
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So far, the tour had been an unmitigated disaster.
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The raid itself was an unmitigated disaster.
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What is happening in Assam is an unmitigated disaster.
practical certainty/disaster/sell-out etc
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It was a practical certainty that he would be trying to raise more loans long before these were ever repaid.
spell trouble/disaster/danger etc
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After all, one case of the trots hardly spells disaster.
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Delegated authority without a meaningful consultation process would spell disaster for teacher morale, motivation, commitment and hence effectiveness.
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However, other investors said a difficult Diet session could spell trouble for bonds in the medium-term.
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Staff here say that would spell disaster for hundreds of alcoholics.
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Troubling developments For the reference-service industry, these developments spell trouble.
walking disaster (area)
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As far as my patients went, I became a walking disaster area.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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At least 264 people died, in one of the worst civilian air disasters of all time.
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I'd invite you in, but my place is a disaster .
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Natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes are common occurrences in California.
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The disaster killed more than 200 people.
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The 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl spread radiation worldwide.
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The Challenger disaster cost the lives of seven astronauts, and set back the nation's space program for years.
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The city has emergency plans for dealing with a major disaster such as a rail crash.
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The crash Monday is the latest in a long line of air disasters in West Africa.
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The governor said the earthquake was the worst natural disaster to hit India for over 50 years.
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The local people are used to coping with disaster .
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The Los Alamos area was officially declared a disaster area after the forest fires there in May.
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The party was a total disaster .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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But if they do not leave, he said, ecological disaster could be as little as five or 10 years away.
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Despite the glossy packaging he ruined Labour's chances last time and he is set to repeat the disaster .
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General consensus is the meeting was a disaster .
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No disaster , and the wrecking of this ship is a disaster, justifies you to act stupidly.
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Our current economic policy has the makings of disaster .
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Shawcross raises these questions within the context of disaster relief but they have a broader setting.
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Staff here say that would spell disaster for hundreds of alcoholics.