Meaning

noun a sudden and violent collapse

noun flooding caused by a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river during the spring or summer

noun a sound defeat

originFrom French débâcle, from débâcler (“to unbar; unleash”) from prefix dé- (“un-”) + bâcler (“to dash, bind, bar, block”) [perhaps from unattested Middle French and Old French *bâcler, *bacler (“to hold in place, prop a door or window open”)], from Vulgar Latin *bacculare, from Latin baculum (“rod, staff used for support”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-. Also attested in Old French desbacler (“to…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0