cesspool
Americannoun
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a cistern, well, or pit for retaining the sediment of a drain or for receiving the sewage from a house.
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any filthy receptacle or place.
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any place of moral filth or immorality.
a cesspool of iniquity.
noun
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Also called: sink. sump. a covered cistern, etc, for collecting and storing sewage or waste water
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a filthy or corrupt place
a cesspool of iniquity
Etymology
Origin of cesspool
1575–85; cess (< Italian cesso privy < Latin rēcessus recess, place of retirement) + pool 1
Explanation
Literally, a cesspool is place underground where sewage gathers, but figuratively, you might hear anything that's full of germs or just plain disgusting described as a cesspool. Either way, you'll want to steer clear. Think of a cesspool as an underground swimming pool full of nastiness, which of course rhymes with cess. But the word cesspool isn't just used to describe a storage place underground where sewage is held temporarily. It's also a term you might use to negatively describe something that's swimming in germs or corruption. Stuck on a long flight between two people with a cold? That's a cesspool of germs right there for you.
Vocabulary lists containing cesspool
Anthem
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The Jungle
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Flush
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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.
Rafters in life jackets and helmets pulled up their paddles and gripped the raft’s ropes, holding on before barreling down Satan’s Cesspool, a Class III+ rapids.
From Seattle Times • May 4, 2023
Cesspool use is more widespread in Hawaii than in any other state.
From Washington Times • Jun. 17, 2020
Cesspool, ses′pōōl, n. a pool or hollow in which filthy water collects.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
Sweet Spirit of Cesspool, hear a mother's prayer: Her terrors pacify and offspring spare!
From Black Beetles in Amber by Bierce, Ambrose
A Gilt Youthhood, in plaited hair-tresses, tears down his Busts from the Theatre Feydeau; tramples them under foot; scatters them, with vociferation into the Cesspool of Montmartre.
From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas
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.
