Ajax

[ey-jaks]

noun

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.

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.

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

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for ajax

Contemporary Examples of ajax

As early as the 1960s, clubs like Ajax Amsterdam began developing new approaches to the game.
Spain Wins!
Joshua Robinson
July 10, 2010

Historical Examples of ajax

In 1792, they appointed him a general under Dumouriez, who baptized him his Ajax.
Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, Complete
Lewis Goldsmith
And he shook his puny fist at the blue vault of heaven—Ajax defying Jupiter.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
Thus they spake, and Ajax was arming himself in splendid brass.
The Iliad of Homer (1873)
Homer
So did the high-born Ajax spoil Simosius, the descendant of Anthemion.
The Iliad of Homer (1873)
Homer
It falls to the lot of Hector, but he retires on the approach of Ajax.
The Iliad of Homer (1873)
Homer

British Dictionary definitions for ajax

Ajax

noun Greek myth

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

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

Word Origin and History for ajax

Ajax

name of two Greek heroes in the Trojan War (Great Ajax, son of Telamon, and Little Ajax, son of Oileus), Latin, from Greek Aias, perhaps originally the name of an earth-god, from aia "earth." The Elizabethans punned on the name as a jakes "a privy."