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| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Cain
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raise Cain definition
To create a disturbance: “Alan and his buddies were always raising Cain over at the frat house.”
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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raise Cain definition[...ken]
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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raise Cain
Also, raise hell or the devil. Behave in a rowdy or disruptive way, as in He said he'd raise Cain if they wouldn't give him a refund, or The gang was out to raise hell that night, or The wind raised the devil with our picnic. The first term alludes to the son of Adam and Eve who killed his brother, Abel. It was first recorded in the St. Louis Daily Pennant (May 2, 1840): "Why have we every reason to believe that Adam and Eve were both rowdies? Because ... they both raised Cain.". This statement makes a pun on raise, meaning "bring up" or "nurturing." The two variants, alluding to bringing hell or the devil up to this world, are older, the first from about 1700, the second from about 1800.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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