Lexic.us

Definition of Gordian knot

1. Noun. Any very difficult problem; insoluble in its own terms.

2. Noun. An intricate knot tied by Gordius, the king of Phrygia, and cut by the sword of Alexander the Great after he heard that whoever undid it would become ruler of Asia.

Definition of Gordian knot

1. Noun. The legendary knot tied to a pole near the temple of Zeus in Gordium. ¹

2. Noun. (by extension) Any intricate and complex problem. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Gordian Knot

Goosey Night Goosnargh Gopala Gopalan's syndrome Gopalganj District Gopher State Gopherus Gopherus polypemus Goran Gorbachev

Gorbachevian Gorbymania Gordian Gordian knot Gordian knots Gordie Gordie Howe hat trick Gordie Howe hat tricks Gordimer Gordium

Gordon Gordon's sign Gordon's symptom Gordon Bennett Gordon and Sweet stain Gordon reflex Gordon setter Gordy

Literary usage of Gordian knot

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

1. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann (1913)
"It was there, in the temple of Zeus, that Alexander cut the famous gordian knot. Under its own name, ..."

2. History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century by Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné (1879)
"... Points—The great Antithesis—Failure of Conciliation—The gordian knot—A Council granted—Charles's Summons—Menaces—Altercations—Peace or War—Romanism ..."

3. The Monthly Review by Ralph Griffiths (1799)
"tied the gordian knot, but it must be granted that he attempts to cur it with no blunt weapons. Most of the observations had previously occurred to us, ..."

4. A History of Greece: From the Earliest Times to the Roman Conquest, with by William Smith, George Washington Greene (1883)
"The gordian knot § 10. March through Cilicia. Battle of Issus. Victory. §11. Conquest of Phoenicia. Siege of Tyre. § 12. Alexander marches into Egypt ..."

5. Constitutional History of the United States from Their Declaration of by George Ticknor Curtis (1896)
"... cnt this gordian knot,—the Union,—and set freo the northern conscience from the restraints of the ..."

6. History of the Life and Times of James Madison by William Cabell Rives (1866)
"... not States — Proportional or Equal Representation of the States in the Federal Councils — gordian knot of the Convention — Madison, Read, Patterson, ..."

7. Rise of the Macedonian Empire by Arthur Mapletoft Curteis (1890)
"... famous gordian knot. In the citadel of the town (so runs the tale) was a waggon, in which, once upon a time, when the people were at strife, ..."

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