Samarra
[suh-mahr-uh]
- a town in central Iraq, on the Tigris: seat of the early Abassid caliphs.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for samarra
Contemporary Examples
He prepared operations south of Samarra and north of Baghdad.
It has been six months since unknown insurgents destroyed the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
She says, Shi'a people leave Adh Dhouloueya and go to Samarra.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
They are the victims of Shia death squads in Samarra and Tikrit.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
“The Peace Brigades have been welcomed by the Sunni people of Samarra,” he said.
Historical Examples
The inhabitants of Samarra are, I believe, the most ill-balanced people in the world.
Caught by the TurksFrancis Yeats-Brown
More obviously, Al-Ajik castle guarded Samarra from the north.
The Leicestershires beyond BaghdadEdward John Thompson
It was near Samarra that he suffered defeat and died of wounds.
The Leicestershires beyond BaghdadEdward John Thompson
Samarra Station was dismantled, but the engines and trucks were there.
The Leicestershires beyond BaghdadEdward John Thompson
Life was scant at Samarra, as poor as it had been abundant at Sannaiyat.
The Leicestershires beyond BaghdadEdward John Thompson
Word Origin and History for samarra
Samarra
city in north-central Iraq; phrase an appointment in Samarra indicating the inevitability of death is from an old Arabic tale (first in English apparently in W. Somerset Maugham's play "Sheppey," 1933), in which a man encunters Death (with a surprised look on his bony face) one day in the marketplace in Baghdad; he flees in terror and by dusk has reached Samarra. Death takes him there, and, when questioned, replies, "I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper