Domino effect
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The situation in which one event sets off a chain of additional events.
"While the move has, for now, calmed fears of a repeat of a 2008-style domino effect, the merger has left Switzerland with a new megabank on Paradeplatz square."
- 2 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) wordnet
- 3 The theory that, if South Vietnam became communist, it would be followed by Cambodia, Laos, additional Southeast Asian countries, other Asian countries, and likely even elsewhere. historical
Example
More examples"While the move has, for now, calmed fears of a repeat of a 2008-style domino effect, the merger has left Switzerland with a new megabank on Paradeplatz square."
Etymology
An allusion to a row of dominoes in which the fall of one leads to a cascade of falling pieces.