pollice verso

[pohl-li-ke wer-soh, pol-uh-see vur-soh]

adverb

Latin.

1. with thumbs turned downward: the sign made by spectators calling for the death of a defeated gladiator in the ancient Roman circus.

Example Sentences

In some ways, the President’s Twitter account has turned into the latter-day equivalent of pollice verso, the thumb signal that, according to legend, determined the fate of gladiators in ancient Rome.

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His famous painting "Pollice Verso" depicts a crowded arena looking down on a few gladiators, only one of whom is still standing, foot pressed to the throat of one of his fallen combatants.

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Two textual descriptions of a gladiatorial battle, from the poets Juvenal and Prudentius, both reference the pollice verso or pollice converso, the "turned" thumb, as the signal for death.

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