lost tribes

American  

noun

1. (in the Bible) the members of the ten tribes of ancient Israel who were taken into captivity in 722 b.c. by Sargon II of Assyria and are believed never to have returned to ancient Palestine.

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lost tribes British  

plural noun

1. Old Testament the ten tribes deported from the N kingdom of Israel in 721 _bc and believed never to have returned to Palestine

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Example Sentences

Many Igbos believe they have Jewish heritage as one of the so-called 10 lost tribes of Israel, though most are not practising Jews like Mr Yaakov.

From BBC • Oct. 17, 2021

People at the time thought there might be dinosaurs or lost tribes down there.

From National Geographic • Jan. 13, 2018

Being a third-generation American of Irish descent, I am prepared to hear any day that Ireland was settled by the lost tribes of Israel.

From Time Magazine Archive

Introducing himself as one from the lost tribes who had emigrated to South America 600 years before Christ, Moroni told Joe the location of a set of golden plates in a cave near Palmyra.

From Time Magazine Archive

Their language was "like the Hebrew," and he guessed that they were descended from the ten lost tribes of Israel.

From William Penn by Hodges, George