Gehenna
Americannoun
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(in the Bible) the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where propitiatory sacrifices were made to Moloch.
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hell.
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any place of extreme torment or suffering.
noun
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Old Testament the valley below Jerusalem, where children were sacrificed and where idolatry was practised (II Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 19:6) and where later offal and refuse were slowly burned
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New Testament Judaism a place where the wicked are punished after death
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a place or state of pain and torment
Etymology
Origin of Gehenna
From Late Latin, from Greek Géenna, from Hebrew Gē-Hinnōm “hell,” short for gē ben Hinnōm, literally, “valley of the son of Hinnom”
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.
The world is a strange, wavy place before your bleary eyes, too bright and too dim all at once, and that pounding in your head suggests the tortures of Gehenna itself.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 5, 2022
Carlin may keep his head down at first, replying “yes, sir” to every barked command, but he instinctively understands the laws that govern this white-walled Gehenna.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2017
The hollering and the high-mindedness over, all that would be left would be another shabby little affair à la the Birmingham country club set, and a self-constructed private Gehenna with the latest Westinghouse appliances.
From The Guardian • Jul. 10, 2015
A 1998 book of poems by Anthony Hecht illustrated with Mr. Baskin’s drawings and published by Gehenna Press is now listed at $14,500, and Matisse’s “Jazz” is virtually unavailable at any price.
From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2014
The hollering and the high-mindedness over, all that would be left would be another shabby little affair a la the Birmingham country club set, and a self-constructed private Gehenna with the latest Westinghouse appliances.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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.
