hellhound
Americannoun
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a mythical watchdog of hell.
-
a fiendish person.
noun
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a hound of hell
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a fiend
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hellhound
before 900; Middle English, Old English helle hund; see hell, hound 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.
Cerberus, the guard of the underworld, is featured with Hercules, a reference to the heroic demigod’s 12th and final labor which involved capturing the hellhound.
From Washington Times • Oct. 10, 2023
Temperatures on the continent soared past 40C, with forecasters calling on Greek Mythology to coin one heatwave Cerberus, a three-headed hellhound that guards the gates of the underworld.
From BBC • Sep. 1, 2023
Beneath it, one sharp-fanged, evil-looking hellhound opens its jaws.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 20, 2020
I knew that what I did as a 16-year-old in Virginia would forever be a hellhound on my trail, but I hoped that I had outpaced my scapegrace.
From New York Times • Oct. 16, 2018
“I’m not saying names, but somebody has been bugging me for a hellhound or a dragon. Since a dragon ain’t happening, a hellhound it is.”
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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.
