Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing views.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun historical A search for
witches , persons believed to be usingsorcery orharmful magic , in order topersecute and typically kill them. - noun An
attempt to find andpublicly punish a group of people perceived as athreat , usually onideological orpolitical grounds . - noun A public
smear -campaign against an individual.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun searching out and harassing dissenters
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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"The press set about what can only be described as a witch-hunt."
WalesOnline - Home WalesOnline 2011
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Such political tactics can only be characterized as demonization -- or what Professor Adam Levitin calls a witch-hunt.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Ed Mierzwinski 2011
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World's 9 most ridiculously expensive cars King hearings called a witch-hunt Molly Lewis serenades Stephen Fry on ukulele at Harvard: "Let me have your baby"
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Their transparently political witch-hunt, pursued for them with such uncharacteristic unity of message and purpose, has succeeded.
Rabbi Irwin Kula: The Roasting Of Weiner And The Public Good Rabbi Irwin Kula 2011
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Otherwise I would assume they'd be able to speak about this with data and not enter a panic/witch-hunt mode ...
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I always suspected that was just a partisan witch-hunt! simp
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Teachers need to know that the accountability movement is really a rigged witch-hunt.
Timothy D. Slekar: Teachers, This One Is for You Timothy D. Slekar 2011
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Their transparently political witch-hunt, pursued for them with such uncharacteristic unity of message and purpose, has succeeded.
Rabbi Irwin Kula: The Roasting Of Weiner And The Public Good Rabbi Irwin Kula 2011
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Teachers need to know that the accountability movement is really a rigged witch-hunt.
Timothy D. Slekar: Teachers, This One Is for You Timothy D. Slekar 2011
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I blame both parties for treating every confirmation hearing as if it's a witch-hunt, or an opportunity to destroy someone rather than an interview meant to determine if someone's qualified to do a job.
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