holocaust

Noun

holocaust (plural holocausts)

1. An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.
   • And the ſcribe ſayde vnto hym: well maſter⸝ thou haſt ſayde the trugthe⸝ thatt there ys one God⸝ and that there is none but he. And to love hym with all the herte⸝ and with all the mynde⸝ and with all the ſoule⸝ ãd with all the ſtrẽgthe. And to love a mans nehbour as hym ſilfe⸝ ys a greater thynge...1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Marke xij:[32–33], folio lxiij, verso
   • […] Iſaac carried on his back the wood for the ſacrifice; which being an holocauſt or burnt offering to be conſumed unto aſhes, we cannot well conceive the wood a burthen for a boy; but ſuch a one unto Iſaac, as that which it typified was unto Chriſt, that is the wood or croſſe whereon he ſuffered...1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Picture of Abraham Sacrificing Isaac”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 5th...
2. (also, broadly, figuratively) A complete or large offering or sacrifice.
   • Inſnar'd ſhe was in Shechems Treachery, / And, ſilly Mayden, ſuddenly became / An Holocauſt to Luſts unhappy Flame.1648, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto XVII. The Mortification. Stanza 100.”, in Psyche: Or Loves Mysterie, […], London: […] John Dawson for George Boddington, […], →OCLC, page 322, column 2
   • Oh! and with what a noble freeness on the contrary will not that good soldier, the worthy Spaniard present himself, who, wreathed with laurels, shall run after triumph to the altar of his august mother (his country), and offer up to her in holocaust, the arms and the banners of the vanquished foe...1808 August 6, “Spain. Proclamation to the Spanish warriors.”, in The Morning Chronicle, number 12,240, London: […] John Lambert […], →OCLC, page 2, column 3

   Synonyms:

   hecatomb

3. (broadly) Complete destruction by fire; also, the thing so destroyed.
   • So vertue giv'n for loſt, / Depreſt, and overthrown, as ſeem'd, / Like that ſelf-begott'n bird [the phoenix] / In the Arabian woods emboſt, / That no ſecond knows nor third, / And lay e're while a Holocauſt, / From out her aſhie womb now teem'd, / Revives, reflouriſhes, then vigorous moſt / When...1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 98, lines...
   • A horrible holocaust occurred near Hollow Rock, in Benton County, about 7 o'clock last night. The residence of William F. Flowers was consumed by fire.1889 March 16, “All cremated alive: Horrible holocaust near Hollow Rock, Tenn.”, in The Daily American, volume XIV, number 4,571, Nashville, Tenn.: American Co., →OCLC, page 1, column 1
4. (broadly, figuratively) Extensive destruction of a group of animals or (especially) people; a large-scale massacre or slaughter.
   • a nuclear holocaust
   • Three hundred and twelve lives have been sacrificed in seven holocausts, which it would not be accurate to denominate "accidents," in the Lancashire coal fields, since November, 1868. […] [P]ractices are permitted to prevail in one coal-field which cannot be sanctioned by science, and are not be...1871 October 1, “Northumbrian” [pseudonym], “Human holocausts in mines”, in Reynolds’s Newspaper: A Weekly Journal of Politics, History, Literature, and General Intelligence, number 1,103, London...

Verb (1)

holocaust (third-person singular simple present holocausts, present participle holocausting, simple past and past participle holocausted)

1. (also, figuratively, transitive) To sacrifice (chiefly an animal) to be completely burned.
   • Such acts muſt needs be his, who did deviſe / By crying Altars down, to ſacrifice / To private malice; where you might have ſeen / His conſcience holocauſted to his ſpleen.1647, [John Cleveland], “On I. W. A. B. of York”, in The Character of a London-diurnall: VVith Severall Select Poems. […], [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 50
   • In 1767 [Alexander] Pope's rhymed Iliad had been in everybody's hand during forty years. What portion of that period had Doctor [Samuel] Langley devoted to his own blank verse? Did he survive to compare and compete it with [William] Cowper's? Has it been holocausted to Vulcan? or is it slumbering...1871 April 29, E. L. S., “A Forgotten Homerist”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume VII, number 174 (4th Series), London: […]...
2. (transitive) To destroy (something) completely, especially by fire.
   • The meek and candid persecutor, Cardinal [Reginald] Pole, who killed and took possession when [Thomas] Cranmer was holocausted, built the chapel, and became the voucher for the truth of the absurd legend.1850, George Townsend, “[Friday, 8 March 1850]”, in Journal of a Tour in Italy, in 1850, with an Account of an Interview with the Pope, at the Vatican, London: Francis & John Rivington, […], →OCLC...
   • I at once holocausted / My clothes to stamp out the infection—infection.1874, “The Charms of Kilkee”, in London Society. An Illustrated Magazine of Light and Amusing Literature for the Hours of Relaxation, volume XXVI, holiday number, London: […] William Clowes and Sons...
3. (transitive) To subject (a group of people) to a holocaust (mass annihilation); to destroy en masse.
   • Over the centuries, we [Jews] were expelled, pogromed, crusaded, inquisitioned, jihaded, and holocausted out of countries that we helped to make great.1991, Alan M[orton] Dershowitz, “Introduction”, in Chutzpah (A Touchstone Book), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 8
   • Some of these unshared poems are quite lengthy, about 90 lines each, and they work off the historical fact that Isaac was indeed holocausted, not once, but many times. And as a result, much of Europe and Islam are now happily free of Jews.2007, “The Un/Binding and Sacrificing of Isaac: Isaac, Judaism, Israel, Some Poems, and My Life”, in Mishael M. Caspi, John T. Greene, editors, Unbinding the Binding of Isaac, Lanham, Md.; Plymouth...

Proper noun capitalized: Holocaust

UK/ˈhɒləkɔːst/Australia/ˈhɔləkoːst/

the Holocaust (usually uncountable, plural Holocausts)

1. (historical, usually, strictly) The systematic mass murder (genocide) of an estimated six million European Jews perpetrated by Nazi Germany during World War II.
   • Among Soloway’s congregants injured in the attack was Barbara Steinmetz, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who has become one of the most poignant symbols of the attack.2025 June 5, Grace Gilson, “Boulder’s ‘shocked and traumatized’ Jewish community takes stock of losses and strengths”, in The Times of Israel

   Synonyms:

   Shoah

2. (broadly, historical, uncommon, usually) The systematic mass murder (democide) perpetrated by Nazi Germany of somewhere between eleven and fourteen million people they considered subhuman, namely six million Jews and from five to eight million others (including Romanis, Slavs, homosexuals, and people with physical and mental disabilities).
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:Holocaust.

Verb (2) capitalized: Holocaust

UK/ˈhɒləkɔːst/Australia/ˈhɔləkoːst/

Holocaust (third-person singular simple present Holocausts, present participle Holocausting, simple past and past participle Holocausted)

1. Alternative letter-case form of holocaust (“to subject to a mass annihilation; to destroy en masse”).