Ajax

[ ey-jaks ]

noun
  1. Also called Great Ajax, Telamonian Ajax. Classical Mythology. a Greek hero in the Trojan War who rescued the body of Achilles and killed himself out of jealousy when Odysseus was awarded the armor of Achilles.

  2. Also called Ajax the Lesser .Classical Mythology. a Locrian king, noted for his fighting during the Trojan War, who was said to have been killed in a shipwreck as punishment for violating a shrine of Athena.

  1. (italics) a tragedy (c440 b.c.) by Sophocles.

  2. a town in S Ontario, in S Canada.

  • Also A·ias [ey-yas, ahy-as] /ˈeɪ yæs, ˈaɪ æs/ (for defs. 1-3).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Ajax in a sentence

  • Zeus, in pity, sends a favourable omen; Aias fights well; night falls, and the Trojans camp on the open plain.

    Homer and His Age | Andrew Lang
  • In a duel with Aias the spear of Hector pierced the bronze and six layers of hide on his shield, but stuck in the seventh.

    Homer and His Age | Andrew Lang
  • Aias broke in the shield of Hector with another stone; and the gentle and joyous passage of arms was stopped.

    Homer and His Age | Andrew Lang
  • Aias draws the lucky lot; he is to 'meet Hector, and bids the others pray to Zeus "while I clothe me in my armour of battle."

    Homer and His Age | Andrew Lang
  • But Aias certainly did put on a set of pieces of armour, and did not trust to his shield alone, tower-like as it was.

    Homer and His Age | Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for Ajax

Ajax

/ (ˈeɪdʒæks) /


nounGreek myth
  1. the son of Telamon; a Greek hero of the Trojan War who killed himself in vexation when Achilles' armour was given to Odysseus

  2. called Ajax the Lesser, a Locrian king, a swift-footed Greek hero of the Trojan War

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012