HOW TO PRONOUNCE
damocles
/ˈdæməˌkliz/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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What does damocles mean?
proper noun
- A courtier said to have lived at the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈdæməˌkliz/
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Like Damocles at his celebrated banquet, Rebecca perpetually beheld, amid that gorgeous display, the sword which was suspended over the heads of her people by a single hair.
And what advantages are promised by this law as an offset to this sword of Damocles, suspended by a single hair over the head of the unfortunate husbandman?
More book examples (3)
Let us remember also that during ail this time there was suspended over his head, from the palace, a sword of Damocles which was liable to fall at any time.
“The sword of Damocles! It hangs by a hair. Christina is to be given ten minutes to recant, under penalty of having it fall. On the blade there is something written in strange characters. Don’t scratch your head; you will not make it out.”
The ribs were hung with trophies; the vertebræ were carved with Arsacidean annals, in strange hieroglyphics; in the skull, the priests kept up an unextinguished aromatic flame, so that the mystic head again sent forth its vapory spout; while, suspended from a bough, the terrific lower jaw vibrated over all the devotees, like the hair-hung sword that so affrighted Damocles.