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Furies

 - 4 dictionary results

fu⋅ry

[fyoor-ee]
–noun, plural -ries.
1. unrestrained or violent anger, rage, passion, or the like: The gods unleashed their fury on the offending mortal.
2. violence; vehemence; fierceness: the fury of a hurricane; a fury of creative energy.
3. Furies, Classical Mythology. minor female divinities: the daughters of Gaea who punished crimes at the instigation of the victims: known to the Greeks as the Erinyes or Eumenides and to the Romans as the Furiae or Dirae. Originally there were an indefinite number, but were later restricted to Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone.
4. a fierce and violent person, esp. a woman: She became a fury when she felt she was unjustly accused.
5. like fury, Informal. violently; intensely: It rained like fury.

Origin:
1325–75; ME < L furia rage, equiv. to fur(ere) to be angry, rage + -ia -y 2


1. ire, wrath. See anger. 2. turbulence.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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fu·ry   (fyŏŏr'ē)   
n.   pl. fu·ries
  1. Violent anger; rage. See Synonyms at anger.

  2. Violent, uncontrolled action; turbulence.

  3. Furies Greek & Roman Mythology The three terrible winged goddesses with serpentine hair, Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, who pursue and punish doers of unavenged crimes.

  4. A woman regarded as angry or spiteful.


[Middle English furie, from Old French, from Latin furia, from furere, to rage.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

Furies

In classical mythology, hideous female monsters who relentlessly pursued evildoers.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

fury 
c.1374, "fierce passion," from O.Fr. furie, from L. furia "violent passion, rage, madness," related to furere "to rage, be mad." Romans used Furiæ to translate Gk. Erinyes, the collecting name for the avenging deities sent from Tartarus to punish criminals (in later accounts three in number and female). Hence, figuratively, "an angry woman" (c.1374).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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