Moloch

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Mo·loch

(mō′lŏk′, mŏl′ək) also Mo·lech (mō′lĕk′, mŏl′ək)

1. In the Bible, the god of the Canaanites and Phoenicians to whom children were sacrificed.

2. Something possessing the power to exact severe sacrifice.

[Late Latin Moloch, from Greek Molokh, from Hebrew Mōlek, of Canaanite origin; see mlk in Semitic roots.]

mo·loch

(mō′lŏk′, mŏl′ək)

See thorny devil.

[New Latin Moloch, thorny devil genus name, from Late Latin Moloch, the deity Moloch; see Moloch.]

moloch

(ˈməʊlɒk)

(Animals) a spiny Australian desert-living lizard, Moloch horridus, that feeds on ants: family Agamidae (agamas). Also called: mountain devil or spiny lizard

Moloch

(ˈməʊlɒk) or

Molech

(Bible) Old Testament a Semitic deity to whom parents sacrificed their children

Mo•loch

(ˈmoʊ lɒk, ˈmɒl ək)

n.

1. a deity who was propitiated by the sacrificial burning of children. II Kings 23:10, Jer. 32:35.

2. (l.c.) a spiny lizard, Moloch horridus, of Australian deserts.

[< Late Latin < Greek Móloch < Hebrew Mōlekh, alter. of melekh king]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	Moloch - a tyrannical power to be propitiated by human subservience or sacrifice; "the great Moloch of war"; "duty has become the Moloch of modern life"- Norman Douglas power, force - one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority; "the mysterious presence of an evil power"; "may the force be with you"; "the forces of evil"
	2.	Moloch - god of the Canaanites and Phoenicians to whom parents sacrificed their children Molech
	3.	moloch - any lizard of the genus Moloch agamid, agamid lizard - a lizard of the family Agamidae genus Moloch - genus of Australian desert lizard Moloch horridus, spiny lizard, mountain devil - desert lizard that feeds on ants

Translations

Moloch

n → Moloch m

References in classic literature ?

``Alas!'' said the fair Jewess, ``and what is it, valiant knight, save an offering of sacrifice to a demon of vain glory, and a passing through the fire to Moloch? What remains to you as the prize of all the blood you have spilled of all the travail and pain you have endured of all the tears which your deeds have caused, when death hath broken the strong man's spear, and overtaken the speed of his war-horse?''

View in context

Artists arc the high priests of the modern Moloch. Nine out of ten of them are diseased creatures, just sane enough to trade on their own neuroses.

View in context

The way she tells it, Friars Pardon was a sort of Moloch."

View in context

First MOLOCH, horrid King besmear'd with blood Of human sacrifice, and parents tears, Though for the noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud Their childrens cries unheard, that past through fire To his grim Idol.

View in context

We descended to the canon again, and then the guide began to give name and history to every bank and boulder we came to: "This was the Field of Blood; these cuttings in the rocks were shrines and temples of Moloch; here they sacrificed children; yonder is the Zion Gate; the Tyropean Valley, the Hill of Ophel; here is the junction of the Valley of Jehoshaphat--on your right is the Well of Job." We turned up Jehoshaphat.

View in context

See, for example, Moloch, 'Tout le monde soldat' (23 June 1872), in La Scie; Cottin 'Bon pour le service' (17 November 1872) in Le Sider; H.

'Patrouillotisme' and 'Thierroisme' in Rimbaud's 'Democratie'

Better, the poem proposes, to be among the garbage hallucinating angels than sacrificing the next generation to Moloch. Better still, however, to be in Rockland, "where we hug and kiss the United States" (133).

"After All, What Else Is There to Say?" Ed Sanders and the Beat Aesthetic

Hamilcar, en manteau rouge comme les pretres de Moloch, se tenait aupres du Baal, debout devant l'orteil de son pied droit.

L'HORREUR EN EXPANSION. GENETIQUE DE LA << GRILLADE DES MOUTARDS >> DANS SALAMMBO

They have been, and are, driven by a "win syndrome" that refuses to accept stalemate, that seeks victory with religious fervor--no matter how long it takes, how many of our resources it diverts to the moloch of militarism, or how totally it transforms America into a secret, repressive, security state....

The Doomsday Strategy

ERIC Portman heads Tunisian expedition for mythic Mask of Moloch in juvenile treasure hunt adventure.

Shaft was coolest of all the TV cops; Shaft BBC2, 10.50pm - 12.25pm

Bertolt Brecht dismissed play wrights who "hate capitalism because it is not harmless as they themselves strive to be." Ginsberg hated capitalism and strove mightily to be full of harm to the harmful, part of Moloch's overthrow.

The lawyer, the poet

From such tales comes Flaubert's Salammbo, in which children are fed alive by the score into the fire in the belly of the idol Moloch, scooped in by its moveable arms and hands.