an ancient amphitheater in Rome, begun a.d. c70 by Vespasian, having the form of an oval 617 by 512 feet (188 by 156 meters).
(lowercase) coliseum.
According to tradition, persecuted Christians (see also Christian) were fed to lions in the Colosseum for the entertainment of the Romans. (See also bread and circuses.)
Some of the contests staged in the Colosseum were between gladiators, who fought with swords; some were between people and animals. The arena could even be flooded for mock sea battles.
< Latin, noun use of neuter of colossēus gigantic < Greek kolossiaîos, equivalent to koloss ( ós ) colossus + -iaios adj. suffix
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Conservationists also point to Dateline’s history operating the Colosseum Mine as a source of concern, saying the company flouted National Park Service rules and damaged the surrounding landscape.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
“It’s like the Roman Colosseum, with the roar of the crowd, the thirst for a powerful hit. It is incredibly emblematic of what America is in a lot of different ways.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026
There have certainly been occasions when Select Committee hearings have felt worthy of Rome's Colosseum, with MPs grand-standing and landing blows.
From BBC • Nov. 24, 2025
An investigation is underway into what happened on the site, in a busy area near the Colosseum, but one of his fellow workers told AFP that the site was "not safe".
From Barron's • Nov. 5, 2025
Julius knew he had only minutes before Caesar realized what had happened—that they had passed out of the Colosseum to freedom instead of into the cellars where they belonged.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
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.
