death-toll

The earthquake's death-toll continues to rise as rescue workers search the rubble.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • The number of deaths resulting from a particular event, disaster, conflict, or disease: "death-toll" refers to the count of people who have died in a specific situation, such as a natural disaster, war, accident, or pandemic.
   • A list of those killed: It can also denote the record or enumeration of fatalities.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The earthquake's death-toll rose to over 5,000 after rescue teams reached remote villages. (The number of people killed by the earthquake increased as more bodies were found.)
  • Officials are still compiling the death-toll from the recent flood. (Authorities are still counting the number of deaths caused by the flood.)
  • The war's death-toll includes both soldiers and civilians. (The count of people killed in the war encompasses military personnel and non-combatants.)

Advanced Usage

• "to increase the death-toll": to cause a rise in the number of fatalities.

  • The ongoing conflict continues to increase the death-toll each day. (The fighting adds more names to the list of those killed.)

• "to revise the death-toll upward/downward": to adjust the official count of deaths, usually based on new information.

  • Authorities revised the death-toll upward after discovering more bodies in the rubble. (Officials increased the number of reported deaths due to new findings.)

Variants and Related Words

• Death toll (alternative spelling, without hyphen): the same meaning as "death-toll".

  • The death toll from the tsunami was devastating. (The number of people killed by the tsunami was catastrophic.)

• Toll (n): the number of casualties or deaths resulting from a particular situation; also a charge for using a bridge or road.

  • The toll of the epidemic was higher than expected. (The number of deaths caused by the epidemic exceeded predictions.)

Synonyms

• Casualty count: the number of people killed or injured in an event.
• Fatality count: the number of deaths specifically.
• Body count: a more informal term for the number of dead, often used in military or disaster contexts.

Related Idioms

• Take its toll: to cause harm, damage, or loss over time, often referring to deaths or suffering.

  • The harsh winter took its toll on the elderly population. (The winter caused many deaths or serious health problems among older people.)

• Pay the ultimate toll: to lose one's life; to die as a result of a situation.

  • Many soldiers paid the ultimate toll in the battle. (Many soldiers died in the combat.)