[kuh-los-uhs] Pronunciation Key
[-los-ahy] Pronunciation Key, -los·sus·es. | 1. | (initial capital letter) the legendary bronze statue of Helios at Rhodes. Compare Seven Wonders of the World. |
| 2. | any statue of gigantic size. |
| 3. | anything colossal, gigantic, or very powerful. |
] Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
| co·los·sus
(kə-lŏs'əs) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. co·los·si (-lŏs'ī') or co·los·sus·es
[Latin, from Greek kolossos.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
| colossus | |
noun | |
| 1. | someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful [syn: giant] |
| 2. | a person of exceptional importance and reputation |
Colossus
(A huge and ancient statue on the Greek island of Rhodes).
1.
["Breaking the enemy's code", Glenn Zorpette, IEEE Spectrum, September 1987, pp. 47-51.]
2. The computer in the 1970 film, "Colossus: The Forbin Project". Forbin is the designer of a computer that will run all of America's nuclear defences. Shortly after being turned on, it detects the existence of Goliath, the Soviet counterpart, previously unknown to US Planners. Both computers insist that they be linked, whereupon the two become a new super computer and threaten the world with the immediate launch of nuclear weapons if they are detached. Colossus begins to give its plans for the management of the world under its guidance. Forbin and the other scientists form a technological resistance to Colossus which must operate underground.
The Internet Movie Database.
(2007-01-04)
Colossus
Co*los"sus\, n.; pl. L. Colossi, E. Colossuses. [L., fr. Gr. ?.]1. A statue of gigantic size. The name was especially applied to certain famous statues in antiquity, as the Colossus of Nero in Rome, the Colossus of Apollo at Rhodes. He doth bestride the narrow world Like a colossus. --Shak. Note: There is no authority for the statement that the legs of the Colossus at Rhodes extended over the mouth of the harbor. --Dr. Wm. Smith. 2. Any man or beast of gigantic size.
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.