Cain and Abel
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God “set a mark upon Cain” to protect him in his wanderings. The “mark of Cain” now refers to an individual's or humankind's sinful nature.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What might the references to Moses and Cain and Abel tell us about Quran’s early audience?
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
After Cain and Abel, was there a first woman?
From Salon • Jan. 29, 2023
Beauty’s bickering brothers are named Cain and Abel, for example, and Stone’s character is called “Colonizer.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2022
Dr. Bito, who was raised Catholic, was particularly interested in Old Testament stories — such as those of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel — and how they might be reinterpreted.
From Washington Post • Dec. 6, 2021
"Child," argued the old woman, "they is some as says they is ghosts in this here house of Cain and Abel; but they is one that knows they is ghosts here."
From Madge Morton's Trust by Chalmers, Amy D. V.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.