Ishmael
Americannoun
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(in the Bible) the son of Abraham and Hagar: both he and Hagar were cast out of Abraham's family by Sarah.
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any outcast.
noun
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the son of Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's handmaid: the ancestor of 12 Arabian tribes (Genesis 21:8–21; 25:12–18)
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a bandit chieftain, who defied the Babylonian conquerors of Judah and assassinated the governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar (II Kings 25:25; Jeremiah 40:13–41:18)
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rare an outcast
Etymology
Origin of Ishmael
From Hebrew Yishmāʿēl “God will hear”
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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.
It reenacts the Prophet Abraham's stoning of the devil at three places where Satan is said to have tried to dissuade him from obeying God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Think of James Fenimore Cooper’s Natty Bumppo and Chingachgook, Herman Melville’s Ishmael and Queequeg, Twain’s Huck and Jim—or even the black-and-white buddy pairings common to Hollywood action movies of the 1980s and after.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
That product made a “big splash,” said Ishmael Asad, a research analyst at Bitwise, in an interview.
From MarketWatch • May 20, 2026
Wins over current British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion Troy Williamson and light-middleweight Commonwealth and British champion Ishmael Davis sent a clear signal of intent.
From BBC • Jan. 31, 2026
At 3:20 in the morning, wide awake in his bunk, Ishmael heard the order delivered to the troop hold: “All marines lay topside to your debarkation stations!’
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
