- Deluge
- Deluge Del"uge (d[e^]l"[-u]j), n. [F. d['e]luge, L. diluvium,
fr. diluere wash away; di- = dis- + luere, equiv. to lavare
to wash. See {Lave}, and cf. {Diluvium}.]
1. A washing away; an overflowing of the land by water; an
inundation; a flood; specifically, The Deluge, the great
flood in the days of Noah (--Gen. vii.).
[1913 Webster]
2. Fig.: Anything which overwhelms, or causes great destruction. ``The deluge of summer.'' --Lowell. [1913 Webster]
A fiery deluge fed With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
As I grub up some quaint old fragment of a [London] street, or a house, or a shop, or tomb or burial ground, which has still survived in the deluge. --F. Harrison. [1913 Webster]
After me the deluge. (Apr['e]s moi le d['e]luge.) --Madame de Pompadour. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
