Lexic.us

Definition of Cerberus

1. Noun. (Greek mythology) the three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades; son of Typhon.

Definition of Cerberus

1. n. A monster, in the shape of a three-headed dog, guarding the entrance into the infernal regions, Hence: Any vigilant custodian or guardian, esp. if surly.

Definition of Cerberus

1. Proper noun. (Greek mythology) The three-headed dog who guards the entrance to Hades; and one of the many offspring of Echidna and Typhon. ¹

2. Proper noun. (constellation) A former constellation of the northern sky, near Hercules. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Cerberus

Literary usage of Cerberus

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Life and Death of Mr. Badman and The Holy War by John Bunyan (1905)
"More talk be- was- Now when cerberus saw him, he asked tween Profane how ... Then was cerberus glad, and said, And is there such brave preparations a making ..."

2. Walden by Henry David Thoreau (1893)
"For my own part, I was never so effectually deterred from frequenting a man's house, by any kind of cerberus whatever, as by the parade one made about ..."

3. The British Navy: Its Strength, Resources, and Administration by Thomas Brassey Brassey (1882)
"The ' cerberus ' was the first ship of this type, ... 45ft, 3344 tons 1440 cerberus do. do. do. 1309 Abyssinia do. ..."

4. Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1841)
"cerberus. This animal is supposed to be the guardian of the Lower Regions, ... This monster was the prototype of the Greek cerberus; but the lively ..."

5. The anatomy of melancholy, by Democritus iunior by Robert Burton (1821)
"S:ts him in his censure, and calls him the cerberus of the uses. Socrates, whom all the world so much magnified, is, by Lactantius and Theodoret, ..."

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