Pretorius
Americannoun
noun
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Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus (ˈɑndriːs wɪlˈhɛlmys jaːˈkoːbys). 1799–1853, a Boer leader in the Great Trek (1838) to escape British sovereignty; he also led an expedition to the Transvaal (1848). The town Pretoria was named after him
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his son, Marthinus Wessels (marˈtiːnys ˈwɛsəls). 1819–1901, first president of the South African Republic (1857–71) and of the Orange Free State (1859–63)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mathe added that the death of Pretorius on Saturday night leaves only eight of the original 12 persons of interest in the killing of Mbense still alive.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026
In a collaborative effort, the teams of Prof. Pretorius and Dr. Thierry investigated the potential interaction between microclots and NETs in the context of Long COVID.
From Science Daily • Nov. 13, 2025
He manufactures, or tweaks, certain characters—Harlander, for instance, who is played by Christoph Waltz and echoes the scheming Dr. Pretorius in the 1935 “Bride.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025
Pretorius suspects that SARS-CoV-2’s infamous spike protein interacts with the fibrinogen protein and causes it to change its shape.
From Scientific American • Sep. 1, 2023
He was in the midst of speaking when a stocky fellow named Lieutenant Pretorius walked in.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
