də̇ˈbäkəl, dāˈ-, dēˈ-, -ak-, -ȧk- sometimes dāˈbäk(l ə ) or dāˈbȧk(l ə ) noun
( -s )
Etymology: French débâcle, from débâcler to unbar, unbolt, from Middle French desbacler, from des- de- + bacler to bar, bolt, from Old Provençal baclar, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin bacculare, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin bacculum stick, staff, alteration of Latin baculum — more at bacterium
1.
a.
(1) : a breaking up of ice in a river
(2) : the rush (as of water and ice) that follows such a breaking up
b. : a violent destructive flood
2. : a sudden breaking up or breaking loose : a violent dispersion or disruption (as of an army or mob) : stampede , rout
Custer's debacle on the Little Big Horn — Seth Agnew
3. : a sudden breakdown : collapse
the Wall Street debacle of 1929 — Isabel Leighton