Jewish History. a lamb slaughtered and eaten on the eve of the first day of Passover. Exodus 12:3–11.
(initial capital letters) Christ.
(initial capital letters) any of several symbolic representations of Christ, as the Agnus Dei.
Also called Holy Lamb. (initial capital letters) a representation of a lamb passant having around its head a nimbus and supporting on the dexter shoulder a crosslike staff bearing a flag argent charged with a cross gules.
(sometimes not capitals) Old Testament the lamb killed and eaten on the first day of the Passover
Christ regarded as this sacrifice
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Soon there will be strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, snow peas and watercress, the paschal lamb, the Easter ham.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2017
The paschal lamb; the smitten rock; the brazen serpent; and the scape-goat on the day of expiation, exhibited this feature of Messiah’s character.
From The Wesleyan Methodist Pulpit in Malvern Sermons Preached at the Opening Services of the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, in 1866 by King, Knowles
While the two before mentioned were hacking the paschal lamb with rude anatomy, a third was occupied with the salad, consisting of cucumbers sliced, with green herbs, oil, and vinegar.
From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Howe, Julia Ward
They then prepared the paschal lamb, And stood with sandals on; Staves in their hands, loins girded too, They waited the command To throw their loosened shackles off, And seek the promised land.
From Heart Utterances at Various Periods of a Chequered Life by Gurney, Eliza Paul
Before the eating of the paschal lamb, Jesus rises from supper to wash the disciples' feet.
From An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by Greenleaf, Simon
It was at a Seder that Jesus first offered the bread and wine as his body and blood, and in Christian liturgies he has become the archetypal Paschal Lamb.
From Time Magazine Archive
I had found HIM of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write; I had found the very Paschal Lamb whose blood would be my safeguard from the destroying angel.
From Personal Recollections Abridged, Chiefly in Parts Pertaining to Political and Other Controversies Prevalent at the Time in Great Britain by Charlotte Elizabeth
The Paschal Lamb foreshadowed this sacrament in these three ways.
From Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
Having, then, a Paschal Lamb and a true Easter, let us rightly value them.
From Epistle Sermons, Vol. II Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost by Lenker, John Nicholas
Fraught as they were with Messianic hope, it was fitting that such a hymn should ascend to the skies in the hour when God’s Paschal Lamb was about to be offered.
From The Story of Our Hymns by Ryden, Ernest Edwin
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.
