(in the Bible) a deity whose worship was marked by the sacrifice of children by their own parents.
anything conceived of as requiring appalling sacrifice.
the Moloch of war.
moloch, a spiny agamid lizard, Moloch horridus, of Australian deserts, that resembles the horned lizard.
Moloch also appears as one of the fallen angels in Milton's Paradise Lost and as a malevolent figure in other allegorical works of literature.
By extension, a “Moloch” is something that has the power to exact extreme sacrifice.
From Late Latin, from Greek Molóch, from Hebrew Mōlekh, which has the consonants of melekh “king” and the vowels of bōsheth “shame” (caused by idolatry and human sacrifice)
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It is not the time" to question Moloch.
From Salon ● May 27, 2022
Their most enthusiastic defender was J Michael Straczynski, who wrote the Nite Owl, Moloch, and Dr Manhattan prequels.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 23, 2019
Abbie and Crane vow to sacrifice themselves to use it against Moloch, but Jenny has a better idea.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2014
Moloch is impatient, wanting to get on with his end-of-the-world soiree, so he sends the battered Henry to retrieve the sword and the A-Team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2014
Simon Magus, who believed himself attended by Moloch and Beelzebub, two princes of hell, under the respective forms of a leopard and a serpent, was the most remarkable sorcerer in the time of Christ.
From In Both Worlds by Holcombe, William Henry
There can be no doubt that the individual who has once devoted himself to this moloch of the species becomes but too frequently its slave to an almost incredible degree.
From Plain Facts for Old and Young by Kellogg, John Harvey
What a worse than moloch deity is that, which expects an offering of reason, duty, and discretion, to be made to its shrine!
From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 2 by Richardson, Samuel
Indeed, if it were only on this account, the national education of women is of the utmost consequence; for what a number of human sacrifices are made to that moloch, prejudice!
From Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Wollstonecraft, Mary
It's making out that I'd like to go back on my word, and refuse to give Marcel up to the moloch of Unaga.
From The Heart of Unaga by Cullum, Ridgwell
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.
