2. The final event in a romance or a dramatic piece; a denouement, as a death in a tragedy, or a marriage in a comedy.

3. (Geol.)

Defn: A violent and widely extended change in the surface of the earth, as, an elevation or subsidence of some part of it, effected by internal causes. Whewell.

CATASTROPHIC
Cat`a*stroph"ic, a.

Defn: Of a pertaining to a catastrophe. B. Powell.

CATASTROPHISM
Ca*tas"tro*phism, n. (Geol.)

Defn: The doctrine that the geological changes in the earth's crust have been caused by the sudden action of violent physical causes; — opposed to the doctrine of uniformism.

CATASTROPHIST
Ca*tas"tro*phist, n. (Geol.)

Defn: One who holds the theory or catastrophism.

CATAWBA
Ca*taw"ba, n.