Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Constant threat; imminent peril.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[After Damocles.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the following story:
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Examples
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alexz commented on the word sword of Damocles
Heard at Ted2015 in Vancouver in Monica Lewinski's presentation. had to look it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles#Sword_of_Damocles
March 20, 2015