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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Debaclebymonet.jpg|right|frame]]
==Etymology==
French débâcle, from débâcler to clear, from Middle French desbacler, from des- de- + bacler to block, perhaps from Vulgar [[Latin]] bacculare, from Latin baculum staff; Middle Dutch bakkelen "to freeze artificially, lock in place" from bakken "to stick, stick hard, glue together".
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_Century 1802]
==Definitions==
*1 : a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river
*2 : a [[violent]] disruption (as of an army) : rout
*3 a : a great disaster
:b : a complete failure : fiasco
*4. An [[event]] or [[enterprise]] that ends suddenly and disastrously, often with humiliating consequences.
[[Category: General Reference]]