All 3 Uses

apocalypse
in
Notes of a Native Son
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I had declined to believe in that apocalypse which had been central to my father's vision; very well, life seemed to be saying, here is something that will certainly pass for an apocalypse until the real thing comes along.†
Subsection 1 *

apocalypse = an event involving terrible destruction
I had declined to believe in that apocalypse which had been central to my father's vision; very well, life seemed to be saying, here is something that will certainly pass for an apocalypse until the real thing comes along.†
Subsection 1
If ever, indeed, the violence which fills Harlem's churches, pool halls, and bars erupts outward in a more direct fashion, Harlem and its citizens are likely to vanish in an apocalyptic flood.†
Subsection 3

apocalyptic = describing a terribly destructive event

Definitions:

(1) (apocalypse)
an event involving terrible destruction that ends the world as we know it; or (especially when capitalized) the end of the world as prophesized in the Christian book of Revelation
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
At one time "apocalypse" referred to the unveiling of new ideas -- especially in early Jewish and Christian literature.