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abracadabra

   Also found in: Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
ab·ra·ca·dab·ra  (br-k-dbr)
n.
1. A magical charm or incantation having the power to ward off disease or disaster.
2. Foolish or unintelligible talk.

[Late Latin, magical formula.]
Word History: "Abracadabra," says the magician, unaware that at one time the thing to do with the word was wear it, not say it. Abracadabra was a magic word, the letters of which were arranged in an inverted pyramid and worn as an amulet around the neck to protect the wearer against disease or trouble. One fewer letter appeared in each line of the pyramid, until only a remained to form the vertex of the triangle. As the letters disappeared, so supposedly did the disease or trouble. While magicians still use abracadabra in their performances, the word itself has acquired another sense, "foolish or unintelligible talk."

abracadabra [ˌæbrəkəˈdæbrə]
interj
a spoken formula, used esp by conjurors
n
1. a word used in incantations, etc., considered to possess magic powers
2. gibberish; nonsense
[from Latin: magical word used in certain Gnostic writings, perhaps related to Greek Abraxas; see abraxas]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.abracadabraabracadabra - gibberish and nonsense              
gibber, gibberish - unintelligible talking
Translations
abracadabra [ˌabrəkəˈdæbrə] Nabracadabra m
abracadabra [ˌæbrəkəˈdæbrə] exclabracadabra
abracadabra
nAbrakadabra nt


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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
She dismisses everyone but her five main persons as her Cast of Thousands, people who cluster at the edges of things and only say rhubarb and abracadabra.
The educated Dante confronts the landlord/priest Father Bustamente with "Sure you have the right to exploit the peasants now by using the abracadabra of religion" (452), and the illiterate Old Bio generalizes this situation to the priesthood as a whole:
Abracadabra, more music is available to all of us every day.
 
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