DOMINO EFFECT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does domino effect mean? 

• DOMINO EFFECT (noun)
  The noun DOMINO EFFECT has 1 sense:

1. the consequence of one event setting off a chain of similar events (like a falling domino causing a whole row of upended dominos to fall)

  Familiarity information: DOMINO EFFECT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DOMINO EFFECT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The consequence of one event setting off a chain of similar events (like a falling domino causing a whole row of upended dominos to fall)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("domino effect" is a kind of...):

consequence; effect; event; issue; outcome; result; upshot (a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon)

Domain usage:

figure; figure of speech; image; trope (language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense)

 Context examples 

“This has a domino effect that results in the magnetic field becoming weaker and the star to age prematurely.”

(NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old, NASA)