the holocaust

Variant of holocaust

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 © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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