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Definition of Shibboleth
1. Noun. A favorite saying of a sect or political group.
Generic synonyms: Expression, Locution, Saying
Specialized synonyms: Catch Phrase, Catchphrase, Mantra, Battle Cry, Cry, Rallying Cry, War Cry, Watchword
Derivative terms: Sloganeer
2. Noun. A manner of speaking that is distinctive of a particular group of people.
Definition of Shibboleth
1. n. A word which was made the criterion by which to distinguish the Ephraimites from the Gileadites. The Ephraimites, not being able to pronounce sh, called the word sibboleth. See Judges xii.
Definition of Shibboleth
1. Noun. A word, especially seen as a test, to distinguish someone as belonging to a particular nation, class, profession etc. ¹
2. Noun. A common or longstanding belief, custom, or catchphrase associated with a particular group, especially one with little current meaning or truth. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Shibboleth
1. [n -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Shibboleth
Literary usage of Shibboleth
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The American Journal of International Law by American Society of International Law (1914)
"The Monroe Doctrine: An Obsolete shibboleth. By Hiram Bingham. Yale University
Press. 1913. pp. ix, 154. $1.15 net. The name chosen for this book is more ..."
2. Handy-book of Literary Curiosities by William Shepard Walsh (1892)
"(1768), but it is evident that he is only repeating a current shibboleth. Not much
of a shower, an American political phrase quoted derisively to an ..."
3. Encyclopædia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature by Thomas Gamaliel Bradford (1835)
"shibboleth. When Jephthah (qv), at the head of the Gileadites, had defeated the
Ephraimites, and his troops intercepted their flight across the Jordan, ..."
4. Encyclopaedia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature by Francis Lieber, Thomas Gamaliel Bradford (1832)
"... borne on the left arm, to screen the body from the blows of the enemy; afterwards
superseded, in a great degree, by the use shibboleth. ..."
5. Cullings from the Confederacy: A Collection of Southern Poems, Original and by Nora Fontaine M. Davidson (1903)
"A YANKEE shibboleth. When Colonel Bates' Tennessee Legion was stationed on the
Potomac ... Good for you, Colonel Bates, let the shibboleth be " cows," and a ..."
6. The Ancient Lowly: A History of the Ancient Working People from the Earliest by Cyrenus Osborne Ward (1900)
"... in Crete—"Dangerously Political" is Aristotle's shibboleth—Strange Clause in
... shibboleth ..."
Other Resources:
