Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A female spirit in Gaelic folklore believed to presage, by wailing, a death in a family.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A type of female fairy believed in Ireland and some parts of Scotland to attach herself to a particular house, and to foretell by each appearance the death of one of the family. Also benshie, benshi.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Celtic Folklore) A supernatural being supposed to warn a family of the approaching death of one of its members, by wailing or singing in a mournful voice, as under the windows of the house.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun In Irish
folklore , a femalespirit , usually taking the form of a woman whosemournful wailing warns of animpending death. Originally afairy woman singing acaoineadh (lament ) for recently-deceased members of the O’Grady, the O’Neill, the O’Brien, the O’Connor, and the Kavanagh families, translations into English made a distinction between the banshee and other fairy folk that the original language and original stories do not seem to have, and thus the current image of the banshee.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (Irish folklore) a female spirit who wails to warn of impending death
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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If synethesia can't make the cut than my autobiographical ramblings about my life as a mutant banshee from the river styx just won't cut it.
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The thing that was odd about this scene is that the boyfriend with the shopping cart was gone from view by this time, and when I use the word banshee I'm not indulging in hyperbole.
The Banshee and the Motorcycle Cop sfmike 2009
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"one wail of a banshee" is going to be in my head all day long.
Good Will Hunting 2007
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The cry of a banshee was a terrifying power and Sylvanas was the deadliest, most unique, of banshees.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT STORMRAGE Richard A. Knaak 2010
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The cry of a banshee was a terrifying power and Sylvanas was the deadliest, most unique, of banshees.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT STORMRAGE Richard A. Knaak 2010
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The cry of a banshee was a terrifying power and Sylvanas was the deadliest, most unique, of banshees.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT STORMRAGE Richard A. Knaak 2010
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Mailer's verbal reaction is oddly artificial (although the ear chewing is very real and painful to watch) and his wife seems to be lurking just off camera, and then she suddenly starts screaming like a banshee, which is what sets the kids off.
WN.com - Articles related to Flu shots raised to $25, but will include H1N1 2010
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Mailer's verbal reaction is oddly artificial (although the ear chewing is very real and painful to watch) and his wife seems to be lurking just off camera, and then she suddenly starts screaming like a banshee, which is what sets the kids off.
WN.com - Articles related to Flu shots raised to $25, but will include H1N1 2010
-
Mailer's verbal reaction is oddly artificial (although the ear chewing is very real and painful to watch) and his wife seems to be lurking just off camera, and then she suddenly starts screaming like a banshee, which is what sets the kids off.
WN.com - Articles related to Flu shots raised to $25, but will include H1N1 2010
-
Mailer's verbal reaction is oddly artificial (although the ear chewing is very real and painful to watch) and his wife seems to be lurking just off camera, and then she suddenly starts screaming like a banshee, which is what sets the kids off.
WN.com - Articles related to Flu shots raised to $25, but will include H1N1 2010
chained_bear commented on the word banshee
A.K.A. "ban sidh" > Gaelic. A supernatural being supposed by the peasantry of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands to wail under the windows of a house where one of the inmates is about to die.
Usage: "You remember that foul evening when you heard the banshees howl..." --"The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn," c. 1985 Shane Macgowan
February 7, 2007
seanahan commented on the word banshee
I remember these from "Darby O'Gill and the Little People", a classic movie.
February 7, 2007
sionnach commented on the word banshee
from "bean sidhe" or "ban sidhe", a fairy woman.
February 19, 2007
john commented on the word banshee
“The McDonnell F2H Banshee was a military carrier-based jet fighter aircraft, used by the United States Navy from 1948 to 1959 and by the Royal Canadian Navy from 1955 until 1962.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008