Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- A narrow pass of east-central Greece. It was the site of an unsuccessful Spartan stand against the Persians in 480 BC.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun A narrow pass on the East-central coast of
Greece adjacent to theMaliakos Gulf , northwest of Athens. Its name is derived from its hot sulphur springs. It was the site of the Battle of Thermopylae, at which the Spartan King Leonidas stood off, for a time, the Persian armies of Xerxes.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a famous battle in 480 BC; a Greek army under Leonidas was annihilated by the Persians who were trying to conquer Greece
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Actually, the decisive battle after Thermopylae is the Battle of Salamis, a naval fight between the combined Greek fleet led by the Athenians, and the larger Persian fleet (aided by Ionian Greeks).
300 Prequel/Sequel to be The Battle of Plataea? | /Film 2008
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I suppose a hilltop assault with a sun-blotting shower storm of broadheads (as in Thermopylae) was out of the question?
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The conversation of Xerxes and Demaratus at Thermopylae is one of the most interesting and moral scenes in history.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206
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The Greeks could have stationed their fleet closer to Thermopylae, which is forty miles away from Artemisium.
The Battle of Salamis Barry Strauss 2004
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The Greeks could have stationed their fleet closer to Thermopylae, which is forty miles away from Artemisium.
The Battle of Salamis Barry Strauss 2004
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There was a little more width left in the intervening space; but in this there were a number of springs of warm mineral water, salt and sulphurous, which were used for the sick to bathe in, and thus the place was called Thermopylae, or the Hot Gates.
Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes Charles Madison Curry 1906
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There was a little more width left in the intervening space; but in this there were a number of springs of warm mineral water, salt and sulphurous, which were used for the sick to bathe in, and thus the place was called Thermopylae, or the Hot Gates.
A Book of Golden Deeds Charlotte Mary Yonge 1862
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This defile received its name Thermopylae, or Hot Gates, from the hot-springs which rose near the base of the mountain.
Athens: Its Rise and Fall, Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838
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Not to give away too much, in case you don't know the story, Thermopylae, which is also known as "The Hot Gate", is a narrow mountain pass that is the Persians only way into Greece.
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Not to give away too much, in case you don't know the story, Thermopylae, which is also known as "The Hot Gate", is a narrow mountain pass that is the Persians only way into Greece.
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