Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An immeasurably deep chasm, depth, or void.
- noun In the book of Genesis, the primeval Chaos out of which earth and sky were formed.
- noun The abode of evil spirits; hell.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To engulf.
- noun A bottomless gulf; any deep, immeasurable space; anything profound and unfathomable, whether literally or figuratively; specifically, hell; the bottomless pit.
- noun In heraldry, the center of an escutcheon; the fesse-point.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable, and, specifically, hell, or the bottomless pit.
- noun Infinite time; a vast intellectual or moral depth.
- noun (Her.) The center of an escutcheon.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Moral
depravity ; vast intellectual or moral depth. - noun An impending catastrophic happening.
- noun heraldry The center of an
escutcheon .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a bottomless gulf or pit; any unfathomable (or apparently unfathomable) cavity or chasm or void extending below (often used figuratively)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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His body language and choice of words—he used the word "abyss" four times—betrayed a man humbled by a difficult struggle.
Army Rallies Behind Chávez David Luhnow 2011
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Thu 10/29/09 3: 29 PM the abyss is the most UNDERRATED of his movies. its fabulous but no one ever remembers it
New 'Avatar' trailer: Coming into explosive focus | EW.com 2009
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I know the abyss is there, but the picket fence stops me stumbling in by accident.
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Drawing them back from the abyss is the real challenge that confronts us.
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Gaze into the abyss from the comfort of your own h ...
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However, you cannot invariably sell that to the middle-class or lower-class Americans, and so the types instead, write about how all we need to do to get out of the abyss is become a more educated society.
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Now, if the abyss is scary, what is scarier, what generates it, what you will find in it, or what comes from it?
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But staying in the real estate abyss is like throwing money down a rat hole.
I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore! | Johnny B. Truant 2009
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It's a bumpy, slow ride, and the visitor won't forget the final stretch, when the distance between the bus 'wheels and a great, yawning abyss is a matter of inches.
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And don't you think the fear of falling back down into that abyss is one of the primary, albeit ineffective, motivators of humankind?
Trillions to 1 Jonathan Aquino 2008
andrew.simone commented on the word abyss
The sequel to the film Abyss: the Son of Abyss.
December 14, 2006
mikeropology commented on the word abyss
A loanword from Ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerian language).
January 31, 2008
bilby commented on the word abyss
"He felt in his pockets. All he found was money, nothing smaller than a thousand-kroner note. He gave them that.
'I mustn't take,' said the boy. 'That's what my mother says.'
Kasper stood up.
'From Santa Claus,' he said, 'you can take anything. Tell your mother that. Say that Santa is going to come and nibble her earlobe.'
'What about my father?'
Kasper began heading down toward the earth's surface.
'Santa Claus will come and nibble him as well.'
'I've got a dog too,' said the little girl hopefully.
'I'm sorry,' said Kasper. 'Even Santa Claus has to set limits.'
'You don't talk very nice,' said the girl.
Kasper turned toward her.
'For children to know where the abyss is, and be careful,' he said, 'you need to take them all the way out and show them the edge.'"
- 'The Quiet Girl', Peter Høeg.
March 18, 2008