Tartarus
Americannoun
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a sunless abyss, below Hades, in which Zeus imprisoned the Titans.
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a place in Hades for the punishment of the wicked.
noun
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an abyss under Hades where the Titans were imprisoned
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a part of Hades reserved for evildoers
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the underworld; Hades
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a primordial god who became the father of the monster Typhon
Etymology
Origin of Tartarus
C16: from Latin, from Greek Tartaros, of obscure origin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Exoplanet hunters have caught sight of a multitude of Earth- and Venus-size worlds far from our galactic backwater, each of them an Elysium or a Tartarus.
From Scientific American • Jun. 2, 2021
And so to Jackson, whose wingnut fans believe is currently riding the great ferris wheel in the sky, while his detractors hope he’s strapped to a flaming wheel in Tartarus instead.
From The Guardian • Jan. 31, 2019
Or that the Tartars, the nomadic groups that helped Genghis Khan spread his empire, took their name from Tartarus, the lowest part of hell?
From Washington Post • Apr. 20, 2017
The rounded mountains, quite different from those we know on Earth, are named Tartarus Dorsa.
From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016
Maybe the offerings reappeared on the gods’ altars in Olympus...or even here, in the middle of Tartarus.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
