hecatomb
Americannoun
-
(in ancient Greece and Rome) a public sacrifice of 100 oxen to the gods.
-
any great slaughter.
the hecatombs of modern wars.
noun
-
(in ancient Greece or Rome) any great public sacrifice and feast, originally one in which 100 oxen were sacrificed
-
a great sacrifice
Etymology
Origin of hecatomb
1585–95; < Latin hecatombē < Greek hekatómbē < *hekatombwā, equivalent to hékaton one hundred + *-bwā, taken to be a derivative of boûs ox ( cow 1 )
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.
If I may say so, the great hecatomb of pigs you describe on farm has not taken place.
From BBC
This, in a nutshell, is the catastrophic and unprecedented hecatomb that Brazil found itself locked in by mid-April 2021.
From Scientific American
“They get caught and I think it’s very good there is a hecatomb right now. It shows that things are being done for a cleaner sport.”
From Seattle Times
But amid the ensuing hecatomb of the Tet Offensive four years later, LBJ announced he would not run for a second term.
From BBC
Unbeknown to them, Mr. Renzi writes, the liberal leaders were sitting “in a hecatomb.”
From New York Times
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.
