Definition of 'holocaust'
Word forms: plural holocausts
1. variable noun
A holocaust is an event in which there is a lot of destruction and many people are killed, especially
one caused by war.
2. singular noun
The Holocaust is used to refer to the killing by the Nazis of millions of Jews during the Second
World War.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
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Word Frequency
holocaust in American English
noun
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
holocaust in American English
(ˈhɑləˌkɔst, ˈhoulə-)
noun
SYNONYMS 1. inferno, conflagration, ruin, havoc, ravage.1.
a great or complete devastation or destruction, esp. by fire
3. (usually cap) (usually prec. by the)
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
holocaustal adjective
holocaustic
adjective
Word Frequency
holocaust in British English
noun
2. Also called: the Churban, the Shoah (usually capital)
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
holocaustal (ˌholoˈcaustal) or holocaustic (ˌholoˈcaustic) adjective
Word origin
C13: from Late Latin holocaustum whole burnt offering, from Greek holokauston, from holo- + kaustos, from kaiein to burn
Trends of
holocaust
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In other languages
holocaust
British English: holocaust
NOUN /ˈhɒləˌkɔːst/
A holocaust is an event in which there is a lot of destruction and many people are killed, especially one caused by war.
A nuclear holocaust seemed a very real possibility back then.
- American English: holocaust /ˈhɒləkɔst, ˈhoʊlə-/
- Brazilian Portuguese: holocausto
- Chinese: 大灾难尤指战争引起的
- European Spanish: holocausto
- French: holocauste
- German: Inferno
- Italian: olocausto
- Japanese: 大虐殺
- Korean: 대학살
- European Portuguese: holocausto
- Spanish: holocausto
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holocaust
Related terms of
holocaust
Source
Definition of holocaust from the Collins English Dictionary
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