ripple effect

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

An analogy to the spreading ripples on a body of water after an object has struck the surface.

Noun

[edit]

ripple effect (plural ripple effects)

  1. The circumstance in which one event instigates an expansive set of other events.
    Defaults in America's mortgage lending businesses are causing a ripple effect through the major banks in other continents.
    • 2016, Liz Nugent, Lying In Wait, →ISBN, page 115:
      Whatever had happened to her, her behaviour had ripple effects that were still causing upset and grief nearly five years later.
    • 2022 February 22, Lananh Nguyen, Alan Rappeport, “Global Banks Poised for Turmoil as West Hits Russia With Sanctions”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      Global banks are bracing for the ripple effects of harsh new financial and economic sanctions against Russia intended to hobble its economy and restrict its access to foreign capital.

Translations

[edit]

See also

[edit]