Pyrrhic victory Hear it!

Pyrrhic victory definition

Pyr·rhic victory (pir′ik)

a too costly victory: in reference to either of two victories of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, over the Romans in 280 and 279 , with very heavy losses

Etymology: Gr Pyrrhikos

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

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.