Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Something unusually large of its kind, especially a ship.
- noun A very large animal, especially a whale.
- noun A monstrous sea creature mentioned in the Bible.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An aquatic animal mentioned in the Old Testament.
- noun Hence, in modern use Any great or monstrous marine animal, as the whale.
- noun Anything of vast or huge size.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An aquatic animal, described in the book of Job, ch. xli., and mentioned in other passages of Scripture.
- noun The whale, or a great whale.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Very large;
gargantuan . - noun biblical A large
sea monster which guards the gates ofhell at the bottom of the sea. - noun Something
large ;behemoth .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the largest or most massive thing of its kind
- noun monstrous sea creature symbolizing evil in the Old Testament
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Thomas Barnett says the military should be divided between what he calls a leviathan force for high intensity wars and a system administrative force to rebuild nations.
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(for otherwise it seems unaccountable) why Moses there so particularly mentions the creation of the whales, because God had so lately insisted upon the bulk and strength of that creature than of any other, as the proof of his power; and the leviathan is here spoken of as an inhabitant of the sea (v. 31), which the crocodile is not; and Ps. civ.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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In the event of leviathan attack, the offending leviathan is shot by the laser on a specific blue spot near its right flank, which has the effect of relaxing all muscular structure and connective tissue in the leviathan body, killing it instanteously.
Archive 2004-08-08 Maggie Jochild 2004
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In the event of leviathan attack, the offending leviathan is shot by the laser on a specific blue spot near its right flank, which has the effect of relaxing all muscular structure and connective tissue in the leviathan body, killing it instanteously.
PYA: GLOSSARY FROM SKENISH TO ENGLISH Maggie Jochild 2004
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It is worthy of note, too, that the word leviathan in xli. 1 is used in a totally different sense from iii 8, where it is the mythological (sea?) dragon.
Introduction to the Old Testament John Edgar McFadyen
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I think much of fishing for a leviathan from the Island of the Cold Sea.
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I think much of fishing for a leviathan from the Island of the Cold Sea.
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The leviathan is said to play in the waters, because he is so well armed against all assaults that he sets them at defiance and laughs at the shaking of a spear, Job xli.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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There are creatures so little, so weak, as to be easily restrained thus, and triumphed over; but the leviathan is not one of these: he is made to be the terror, not the sport and diversion, of mankind.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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The face of the leviathan is here described to be terrible (ver.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
brtom commented on the word leviathan
... or that Sea-beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim th' Ocean stream ...
Milton, Paradise Lost I
December 17, 2006
fbharjo commented on the word leviathan
from a semitic root meaning "turning, winding and twisting"
January 14, 2008
whichbe commented on the word leviathan
(Hebrew: לִוְיָתָן, Standard Liwyatan Tiberian Liwy�?ṯ�?n ; "Twisted; coiled") A Biblical sea monster referred to in the Old Testament (Psalm 74:13-14; Job 41; Isaiah 27:1). The word leviathan has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. (Wikipedia)
May 22, 2008
john commented on the word leviathan
See also leviathan of forensics.
September 30, 2008
Prada_Bidet commented on the word leviathan
Can also be used to decribe complete political control and vast bureaucracy.
"The heirarchy of levithans seek to gain control of all ports."
July 2, 2009