kiss of death
- a fatal or destructive relationship or action: The support of the outlawed group was the kiss of death to the candidate.
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Origin of kiss of death
First recorded in 1945–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
kiss of death
- an act or relationship that has fatal or disastrous consequences
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Word Origin
from Judas' kiss that betrayed Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:44–45)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Idioms and Phrases with kiss of death
kiss of death
An action or relationship that is ultimately ruinous. For example, Some regard a royal divorce as a kiss of death to the monarchy. This term alludes to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, who kissed him as a way of identifying him to the soldiers who came to arrest him (Matthew 26: 47–49). It dates only from about 1940 but was previously called a Judas kiss.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.