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• Argus
  Argus

  noun

  a giant with 100 eyes, set to guard the heifer Io: his eyes were transferred after his death to the peacock's tail.
• argus
  argus

  noun

  any of various brown butterflies, esp the Scotch argus ( Erebia aethiops ) found on moorland and in forests up to a height of 2000 m

Argus

American  

[ahr-guhs] / ˈɑr gəs /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a giant with 100 eyes, set to guard the heifer Io: his eyes were transferred after his death to the peacock's tail.

2. a son of Phrixus and builder of the Argo.

3. (in theOdyssey ) Odysseus' faithful dog, who recognized his master after twenty years and immediately died.

4. any observant or vigilant person; a watchful guardian.

5. (lowercase) Also argus pheasant any of several brilliantly marked Malayan pheasants of the Argusianus or Rheinardia genera.

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argus ¹ British  

/ ˈɑːɡəs /

noun

1. any of various brown butterflies, esp the Scotch argus ( Erebia aethiops ) found on moorland and in forests up to a height of 2000 m

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Argus ² British  

/ ˈɑːɡəs /

noun

1. Greek myth a giant with a hundred eyes who was made guardian of the heifer Io. After he was killed by Hermes his eyes were transferred to the peacock's tail

2. a vigilant person; guardian

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Argus Cultural  

1. A creature in classical mythology who had a hundred eyes. Hera set him to watch over Io, a girl who had been seduced by Zeus and then turned into a cow; with Argus on guard, Zeus could not come to rescue Io, for only some of Argus' eyes would be closed in sleep at any one time. Hermes, working on Zeus' behalf, played music that put all the eyes to sleep and then killed Argus. Hera put his eyes in the tail of the peacock.

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Etymology

Origin of Argus

< Latin < Greek Árgos, derivative of argós bright, shining

Example Sentences

"In practice, what that led to was the removal of Indian jet fuel from the European market en masse. It just became too complicated," explains Amaar Khan of Argus Media.

From BBC • May 3, 2026

Spot prices for jet fuel in the U.S. initially fell to $175 a barrel, before rising more than 2% on Thursday, according to the Argus US Jet Fuel Index.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

"I think what makes this one potentially more critical is the number of production hubs that are involved and countries that are involved," says Sarah Marlow, global editor for fertiliser at Argus Media.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

Jet-fuel prices have almost doubled since the start of the war, according to the Argus U.S.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch.

From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling