General Englishneutralidiomatic
- An unspecified terrible or very bad thing or event; used to refer to something harmful, frightening, or grievous.
Chiefly North American Englishinformalcolloquialdialectal
- Used as an intensifier meaning 'very' or 'extremely' when modifying verbs, adjectives, or adverbs (e.g., 'hurts something awful' = hurts very much).
General Englishinformal
- A phrase expressing a strong sense or foreboding that a grave or significant event has occurred or will occur.