Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In Roman antiquity, a gladiator who wore only a short tunic and carried a trident and a net.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Rom.Antiq.) A gladiator armed with a net for entangling his adversary and a trident for despatching him.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A type of
gladiator , who uses a casting net (arete oriaculum ) as aweapon .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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With a movement unbelievably swift King was there ahead of him; and with another movement not so swift, but much more disconcerting, he threw his sheet as the retiarius used to throw a net in ancient Rome.
In The Time Of Light dj barber 2010
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This was the undersized, unappealing slave I had encountered at Myrrha's house, now dressed up for his execution like a retiarius.
Two For The Lions Davis, Lindsey 1998
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In the distance is the retiarius, who must fight Hyppolitus in his turn.
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Myrmillo, were usual antagonists, and had their name from the secutor following the retiarius, who eluded the pursuit until he found an opportunity to throw his net to advantage.
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The old Romans knew how formidable, even in contest with a gladiator equipped with sword, helmet, and shield, was the almost naked _retiarius_ with his net in one hand and his three-pronged javelin in the other.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 38, December, 1860 Various
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The big gladiator sat still waiting for the _retiarius_ to finish him.
We Can't Have Everything Rupert Hughes 1914
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With a movement unbelievably swift King was there ahead of him; and with another movement not so swift, but much more disconcerting, he threw his sheet as the retiarius used to throw a net in ancient
King of the Khyber Rifles Talbot Mundy 1909
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Hawksley snatched up the bedclothes and threw them as the ancient retiarius threw his net.
The Drums of Jeopardy Harold MacGrath 1901
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I first saw him fight as a _secutor_, matched against a _retiarius_.
Andivius Hedulio Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire Edward Lucas White 1900
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No _retiarius_ ever netted him, yet the net seldom missed him more than half a hand's breadth.
Andivius Hedulio Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire Edward Lucas White 1900
chained_bear commented on the word retiarius
Plural retiarii.
April 17, 2009
qroqqa commented on the word retiarius
Best use of retiarius in a modern play:
HAROLD: He and his love are like a retiarius. Do you know what a retiarius is?
LOOSELEAF: He's a kind of gladiator who fights with a knife and a net and doesn't wear anything but a jockstrap.
HAROLD (amazed): How do you know that?
LOOSELEAF: You told me.
HAROLD: When?
LOOSELEAF: When we were up in the tree so long—with the bats.
HAROLD: Oh. I'd forgotten.
LOOSELEAF: Fourteen times you told me. I counted.
HAROLD: Really?
LOOSELEAF: You'd get this funny look in your eyes, and I'd say to myself, "Oh, Jesus—he's going to tell me what a retiarius is again."
—Kurt Vonnegut, Happy Birthday, Wanda June (The two men had been lost in the jungle after a plane crash.)
April 17, 2009
bilby commented on the word retiarius
*laughs like a fat spider*
April 17, 2009