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holocaust definition

holo·caust (hä′lə käst′; hō′lə kôst′, hô′-)

noun

  1. an offering the whole of which is burned; burnt offering
  2. great or total destruction of life, esp. by fire nuclear holocaust

Etymology: ME < OFr holocauste < LL(Ec) holocaustum, a whole burnt offering < Gr holokauston (neut. of holokaustos), burnt whole < holos, whole (see holo-) + kaustos, burnt: see caustic

holocaust Idioms

the Holocaust

☆
the systematic, genocidal destruction of over six million European Jews by the Nazis before and during WWII

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

holocaust Synonyms

holocaust

n.

ruin, fire, ravage; see catastrophe, destruction 1, disaster.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

holocaust Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • create: The less people who encourage plan and create holocausts the better!

Adjective modifier

  • Victorian: Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World.

Modifies a noun

  • denier: Irving is accused of being a holocaust denier " .

Noun used with modifier

  • zombie: Zombie Holocaust on eBay eBay offers great deals on items related to Zombie Holocaust.
holocaust usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

holocaust quotes

There were many ways of not burdening one's conscience, of shunning responsibility, looking away, keeping silent.When the unspeakable truth of the Holocaust became known at the end of the war, all too many of us claimed that they had not known anything about it, orevensuspectedanything† Whoeverrefuses to remember the inhumanity is prone to new risks of infection† Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.

-Weizsa«  cker, Richard Freiherr, Baron von

holocaust quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"holocaust." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/holocaust>

APA Style

holocaust. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/holocaust

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