colossus
pronunciation
How to pronounce colossus in British English:
UK [kəˈlɒsəs]
How to pronounce colossus in American English:
US [kəˈlɑsəs]
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- Noun:
- someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
- a person of exceptional importance and reputation
Word Origin
- colossus (n.)
- "gigantic statue," late 14c., from Latin colossus "a statue larger than life," from Greek kolossos "gigantic statue," which is of unknown origin, used by Herodotus of giant Egyptian statues, and used by Romans of the bronze Helios at the entrance to the harbor of Rhodes. Figurative sense of "any thing of awesome greatness or vastness" is from 1794.
Example
- 1. China is already an economic colossus .
- 2. Incorporating this dynamic colossus into the world economy involves huge adjustments .
- 3. With more than a quarter of the share of us imports , the asian colossus outpunches mexico in terms of volume .
- 4. A once-feared colossus has become a pantomime villain , hissed from the stage .
- 5. In bretton woods , the u. s. delegation under treasury official harry dexter white represented the world 's biggest creditor , bestriding the world like a colossus .