augean

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• Augean — Au*ge an, a. 1. (Class. Myth.) Of or pertaining to Augeus, king of Elis, whose stable contained 3000 oxen, and had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules cleansed it in a single day. [1913 Webster] 2. Hence: Exceedingly filthy or corrupt. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• Augean — filthy, 1590s, in reference to Augean stable, the cleansing of which was one of the labors of Herakles, from Gk. Augeias, like the stable of Augeas, king of Elis, which contained 3,000 oxen and had gone uncleansed for 30 years. Herakles purified… …   Etymology dictionary

• Augean — [ô jē′ən] adj. [< L Augeas < Gr Augeias] 1. Gr. Legend of Augeas, king of Elis, or his stable, which holds 3,000 oxen and remains uncleaned for 30 years until Hercules, as one of his twelve labors, cleans it in one day by diverting a river… …   English World dictionary

• Augean — /aw jee euhn/, adj. 1. resembling the Augean stables in filthiness or degradation. 2. difficult and unpleasant: an Augean chore. [1590 1600; < L Auge(us) of AUGEAS (Gk Augeí(as) + us adj. suffix) + AN] * * * …   Universalium

• Augean — Au•ge•an [[t]ɔˈdʒi ən[/t]] adj. 1) resembling the Augean stables; filthy; rotten 2) difficult and unpleasant: an Augean chore[/ex] • Etymology: 1590–1600; < L Augē(us) of Augeas (< Gk Augeíās) + an I …   From formal English to slang

• Augean — adjective Etymology: Latin Augeas, king of Elis, from Greek Augeias; from the legend that his stable, left neglected for 30 years, was finally cleaned by Hercules Date: 1599 extremely formidable or difficult and occasionally distasteful < an… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

• Augean — Au·ge·an || ɔː dʒɪːən adj. (Greek Mythology) filthy, dirty and corrupt (taken from the story of King Augeas dirty stables which had to be cleaned with a river); resembling the Augean stables that were extremely filthy …   English contemporary dictionary

• Augean stable — Augean Au*ge an, a. 1. (Class. Myth.) Of or pertaining to Augeus, king of Elis, whose stable contained 3000 oxen, and had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules cleansed it in a single day. [1913 Webster] 2. Hence: Exceedingly filthy or corrupt …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• Augean stables — noun (Greek mythology) the extremely dirty stables that were finally cleaned by Hercules who diverted two rivers through them • Usage Domain: ↑plural, ↑plural form • Topics: ↑Greek mythology • Instance Hypernyms: ↑stable, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

• Augean stables — Au|ge|an sta|bles, the according to ancient Greek stories, the very dirty buildings where a king named Augeas kept thousands of cattle. ↑Hercules was ordered to clean them, and he did this by changing the direction of a river to make the water… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

• Augean stables —   pl. n. pl. (place in) filthy condition, from King Augean s stables in Greek mythology, uncleaned for thirty years …   Dictionary of difficult words