noun

1. an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, whose idol, it was formerly supposed, so excited his worshipers when it was hauled along on a large car during religious rites that they threw themselves under the wheels and were crushed
2. anything that exacts blind devotion or terrible sacrifice
3. any relentless, destructive, irresistible force

Etymology: altered < Hindi Jagannāth < Sans Jagannātha, lord of the world < jagat, world + nātha, lord