Word of the Day: Holocaust

holocaust

hol-o-caust / hŏl-ə-kôst, hō-lə-kôst

noun

1. massive destruction with great loss of life, particularly by fire

Of the survivors of the awful holocaust the majority found themselves utterly ruined; their homes destroyed; their possessions gone.

From “The Watchers of the Plains” by Ridgwell Cullum, 1867 – 1943

2. the Holocaust, during World War II, the genocide of Jews and other groups by the Nazis

We should always remember the lessons learned from the Holocaust, in hopes we stay vigilant against such inhumanity now and in the future.

Charlie Dent, 1960 –

3. a massive killing; a massacre

Assassination is almost always unthinkable to moral, thinking men until after a holocaust has come and gone.

Caitlín R. Kiernan, 1964 –

4.  a sacrificial offering that is burned on an altar

The priest shall offer them up and then burn the whole offering on the altar as a holocaust, a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.

Leviticus 1:13 (The New American Bible)