Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The god of the netherworld and dispenser of earthly riches.
  • noun This netherworld kingdom, the abode of the shades of the dead.
  • noun Hell.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Greek myth: The lord of the lower world, a brother of Zeus, and the husband of Persephone (Proserpine).
  • noun In the Greek New Testament and in the revised English version, the state or abode of the dead indefinitely: often taken as equivalent to purgatory, the intermediate state of the dead, or to hell. See hell.
  • noun [lowercase] The infernal regions; hell.
  • noun In zoology: A genus of lepidopterous insects.
  • noun A genus of coleopterous insects.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The nether world (according to classical mythology, the abode of the shades, ruled over by Hades or Pluto); the invisible world; the grave.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Greek mythology The god of the underworld and ruler of the dead, son of Cronus and Rhea, brother to Zeus, Poseidon
  • proper noun Greek mythology the underworld, the domain of Hades, by transference from its god
  • proper noun In the Septuagint Bible, the Greek translation of Sheol
  • proper noun Hell

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (Greek mythology) the god of the underworld in ancient mythology; brother of Zeus and husband of Persephone
  • noun (religion) the world of the dead

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek Haidēs; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ᾍδης (Hāidēs).

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Examples

  • People all over the net are talking about CNN and their PROMOTION of Palin. .what in Hades is wrong with the news company.

    Palin blasts the 'Obama doctrine' 2010

  • People in general appear to imagine that the term Hades is connected with the invisible (aeides) and so they are led by their fears to call the God Pluto instead.

    The CRATYLUS Plato 1975

  • People in general appear to imagine that the term Hades is connected with the invisible (aeides) and so they are led by their fears to call the God Pluto instead.

    Cratylus 427? BC-347? BC Plato 1855

  • In the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the Greek word Hades is used to translate Sheol.

    Archive 2007-10-01 Fr Timothy Matkin 2007

  • In the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the Greek word Hades is used to translate Sheol.

    Serrmon on Lazarus and Dives Fr Timothy Matkin 2007

  • Therefore it did not seem repulsive to translate the Greek word "Hades," the

    The Gospel of the Hereafter 1892

  • Where in Hades did all these manufactured chemicals come from, and how come no one warned me about them?

    Yuk! What are You Putting in Your Hair? 2010

  • I am to the point now where I really don't give a hoot in Hades who the politician is that is the incumbent, (D) or (R), I want them all gone so we can start over.

    Bush Interior Secretary Investigated For Corruption 2009

  • I am to the point now where I really don't give a hoot in Hades who the politician is that is the incumbent, (D) or (R), I want them all gone so we can start over.

    Bush Interior Secretary Investigated For Corruption 2009

  • Where in Hades did all these manufactured chemicals come from, and how come no one warned me about them?

    Yuk! What are You Putting in Your Hair? 2010

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