(in historical use) the investigation, trial, and punishment of alleged practitioners of witchcraft.
an intensive inquiry, originally or purportedly to discover and expose dishonesty, subversion, or other wrongdoing, the scope and conclusions of which often include and bring harm to innocent persons or their reputations through reliance on hearsay or circumstantial evidence.
First recorded in 1885–90 witch hunt for def. 1; in 1935–40 witch hunt for def. 2; and in 1945–50 witch hunt for def. 3; the gerund witch-hunting was first recorded in 1635–40
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Photograph: Philipp Zinniker Witch-hunt is a narrative created by British choreographer Cathy Marston for Bern Ballett, the Swiss company she has directed since 2007.
From The Guardian • May 25, 2013
Bern Ballett's Witch-hunt tells the story of Anna Göldi, who was executed as a witch in Switzerland in 1782.
From The Guardian • May 25, 2013
Bringing Kemp on board makes every kind of sense: his text anchors Witch-hunt securely, and the piece doesn't have the over-schematic, over-cerebral character that non-linear works sometimes do.
From The Guardian • May 25, 2013
Witch-hunt begins: People were literally ready to take Vines of themselves jumping out of office windows in solidarity with slighted Yahoo workers.
From The Guardian • Mar. 21, 2013
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.
