Labyrinth
['læb(ə)rɪnθ] or ['læbərɪnθ]
Definition
(n.) An edifice or place full of intricate passageways which render it difficult to find the way from the interior to the entrance; as, the Egyptian and Cretan labyrinths.
(n.) Any intricate or involved inclosure; especially, an ornamental maze or inclosure in a park or garden.
(n.) Any object or arrangement of an intricate or involved form, or having a very complicated nature.
(n.) An inextricable or bewildering difficulty.
(n.) The internal ear. See Note under Ear.
(n.) A series of canals through which a stream of water is directed for suspending, carrying off, and depositing at different distances, the ground ore of a metal.
(n.) A pattern or design representing a maze, -- often inlaid in the tiled floor of a church, etc.
Inputed by Lennon
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Maze, perplexity, intricacy.
Edited by Carlos
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Maze, complexity, bewilderment, involution, perplexity, inexplicable,difficulty
ANT:Clue, explication, elimination, enucleation
Checker: Tessie
Definition
n. a place full of inextricable windings: (orig.) a building consisting of halls connected by intricate passages: an arrangement of tortuous passages in which it is difficult to find the way out: an inexplicable difficulty a perplexity: (anat.) the cavities of the internal ear.—adjs. Labyrinth′al Labyrinth′ian Labyrinth′ine pertaining to or like a labyrinth: winding: intricate: perplexing; Labyrinth′iform having the form of a labyrinth: intricate.—n. Labyrinth′odon a race of extinct gigantic amphibians found in the Permian Carboniferous and Triassic strata so called from the mazy pattern exhibited on a transverse section of the teeth of some genera.
Inputed by Kurt
Unserious Contents or Definition
If you dream of a labyrinth, you will find yourself entangled in intricate and perplexing business conditions, and your wife will make the home environment intolerable; children and sweethearts will prove ill-tempered and unattractive. If you are in a labyrinth of night or darkness, it foretells passing, but agonizing sickness and trouble. A labyrinth of green vines and timbers, denotes unexpected happiness from what was seemingly a cause for loss and despair. In a network, or labyrinth of railroads, assures you of long and tedious journeys. Interesting people will be met, but no financial success will aid you on these journeys.
Inputed by Deborah
Examples
- Her severe face had no thread of relaxation in it, by which any explorer could have been guided to the gloomy labyrinth of her thoughts. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- I saw such a perfect labyrinth of troubles involved in this proceeding that I determined to feel my ground, as it were. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Everything was gone, walled in, with spikes on top of the walls, and one must ignominiously creep between the spiky walls through a labyrinth of life. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Behind the first cavity is a second cavity so complex and irregular that it is called the labyrinth of the ear. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I have consorted long with grief, entered the gloomy labyrinth of madness, and emerged, but half alive. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Is New York such a labyrinth? Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- This labyrinth is filled with a fluid in which are spread out the delicate sensitive fibers of the auditory nerves; and it is to these that the vibrations must be transmitted. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I mention this in this place, of a fixed purpose, because it is the clew by which I am to be followed into my poor labyrinth. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Those who have visited mines, and have gone into the heart of the underground labyrinth, know how difficult it is for fresh air to make its way to the miners. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- We walk the pathless mazes of society, vacant of joy, till we hold this clue, leading us through that labyrinth to paradise. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Slow in remarking, he was logical in reasoning: having once seized the thread, it had guided him through a long labyrinth. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- So we only groped through the dismal labyrinth of St. Callixtus, under the Church of St. Sebastian. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- He can't be expected to know much of such a labyrinth. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- He entered the Labyrinth (which may have been the Cnossos Palace) by the aid of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, and slew the Minotaur. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The Cretan labyrinth was a building as stately, complex, and luxurious as any in the ancient world. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- How little I knew then of the windings of the labyrinths which were still to mislead me! Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Inputed by George