Amazons

1. In classical mythology, a nation of warrior women. The Amazons burned or cut off one of their breasts so that they could use a bow and arrow more efficiently in war.

Figuratively, an “Amazon” is a large, strong, aggressive woman.

The Amazon River of South America was so named because tribes of women warriors were believed to live along its banks.

Example Sentences

Nothing new there--California’s very name was cooked up in a 15th-Century Spanish novella that describes a rich land ruled by Queen Calafia and Amazons armed with golden spears.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The roots of the Greek presence in the Black Sea are steeped in myth: from the journey of Jason and the Argonauts to Colchis, to the Amazons.

Read more on Science Daily

Mythologies, which premiered last July in France, brings together dancers from the Ballet Preljocaj and the Opéra National de Bordeaux, telling stories from ancient folklore, from Icarus and Zeus to Aphrodite and the Amazons.

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Those fearsome figures provide one of the major reference points for modern incarnations of Amazons because they were encountered by 18th- and 19th-century Europeans, as major facilitators in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Read more on Salon

“I would define success as six Googles and eight Facebooks and seven Amazons,” Mr. Buck said at the time.

Read more on Washington Times