(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
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
In the end, it’s Henry who makes the defining decision and plunges the Methuselah sword into Moloch, disintegrating the beast.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2014
The Moloch at last, however—since these four or five days, has been temporarily appeased; and I have instantly begun to transfer my attention from one form of belatement to another.
From The Letters of Henry James (volume I) by James, Henry
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.
