Library / English Dictionary

HARM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of damaging something or someone

Synonyms:

damage; harm; hurt; scathe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("harm" is a kind of...):

change of integrity (the act of changing the unity or wholeness of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "harm"):

impairment (damage that results in a reduction of strength or quality)

defacement; disfiguration; disfigurement; mutilation (the act of damaging the appearance or surface of something)

wound; wounding (the act of inflicting a wound)

burn (damage inflicted by fire)

defloration (an act that despoils the innocence or beauty of something)

Derivation:

harm (cause or do harm to)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The occurrence of a change for the worse

Synonyms:

damage; harm; impairment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("harm" is a kind of...):

alteration; change; modification (an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "harm"):

detriment; hurt (a damage or loss)

deformation; distortion (a change for the worse)

ladder; ravel; run (a row of unravelled stitches)

Derivation:

harm (cause or do harm to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.

Synonyms:

harm; hurt; injury; trauma

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("harm" is a kind of...):

health problem; ill health; unhealthiness (a state in which you are unable to function normally and without pain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "harm"):

cryopathy; frostbite (destruction of tissue by freezing and characterized by tingling, blistering and possibly gangrene)

intravasation (entry of foreign matter into a blood vessel)

penetrating injury; penetrating trauma (injury incurred when an object (as a knife or bullet or shrapnel) penetrates into the body)

pinch (an injury resulting from getting some body part squeezed)

rupture (state of being torn or burst open)

bite; insect bite; sting (a painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin)

strain (injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain)

whiplash; whiplash injury (an injury to the neck (the cervical vertebrae) resulting from rapid acceleration or deceleration (as in an automobile accident))

wale; weal; welt; wheal (a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions)

lesion; wound (an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin))

pull; twist; wrench (a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments)

break; fracture (breaking of hard tissue such as bone)

electric shock (trauma caused by the passage of electric current through the body (as from contact with high voltage lines or being struck by lightning); usually involves burns and abnormal heart rhythm and unconsciousness)

dislocation (a displacement of a part (especially a bone) from its normal position (as in the shoulder or the vertebral column))

burn (an injury caused by exposure to heat or chemicals or radiation)

bump (a lump on the body caused by a blow)

bruise; contusion (an injury that doesn't break the skin but results in some discoloration)

blunt trauma (injury incurred when the human body hits or is hit by a large outside object (as a car))

bleeding; haemorrhage; hemorrhage (the flow of blood from a ruptured blood vessel)

blast trauma (injury caused the explosion of a bomb (especially in enclosed spaces))

birth trauma (physical injury to an infant during the birth process)

brain damage (injury to the brain that impairs its functions (especially permanently); can be caused by trauma to the head, infection, hemorrhage, inadequate oxygen, genetic abnormality, etc.)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause or do harm to

Example:

These pills won't harm your system

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "harm" is one way to...):

injure; wound (cause injuries or bodily harm to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "harm"):

sicken (make sick or ill)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s to somebody

Derivation:

harm (the act of damaging something or someone)

harm (the occurrence of a change for the worse)

Credits

 Context examples: 

People with a higher genetic likelihood of autism are more likely to report higher childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidal thoughts according to a new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

(Genetic variants for autism linked to higher rates of self-harm and childhood maltreatment, University of Cambridge)

But they can still harm people, especially people with other problems that affect their immunity, such as AIDS.

(Mycobacterial Infections, NIH)

(for example, insisting that people are trying to harm him/her or steal from him/her)?

(NPI - Have Beliefs That You Know are Not True, NCI Thesaurus)

A toxicity study that assesses potential harm to the immune system.

(Other Toxicity Studies: Immunotoxicity, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Electrophilic compounds, xenobiotics and antioxidants are sources of reactive oxygen species, creating oxidative stress that can harm cells.

(Oxidative Stress Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

DNA changes caused by mutagens may harm cells and cause certain diseases, such as cancer.

(Mutagen, NCI Dictionary)

The event interferes with usual activities of daily living, causing discomfort but poses no significant or permanent risk of harm to the research participant.

(Moderate Adverse Event, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Issue associated with safety features malfunctioning in such a way that results in harm to the patient or device operator.

(Fail-Safe Mechanism Design Failure Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

Alcohol can harm your baby at any stage during a pregnancy.

(Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

This allows the doctor to give higher doses of radiation to the tumor with less harm to nearby healthy tissue.

(Fiducial marker, NCI Dictionary)