From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishripple effectripple effectCAUSEa situation in which one action causes another, which then causes a third etc SYN domino effect The increase had a ripple effect through the whole financial market. → ripple
Examples from the Corpus
ripple effect• Indeed, any new policy may be described as having a ripple effect.• Every woman who replaces traditional motherhood with self-nourishing motherhood creates ripple effects in our communities and our places of work.• In Quaker circles, it is possible that his witness did create some ripple effects.• While the worst may be over, one airline consultant warned that ripple effects could last two more weeks.• And once you have so many farmers going broke, the ripple effect starts. 