Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- In the Bible, a prophet who was swallowed by a great fish and disgorged unharmed three days later.
- n. See Table at Bible.
- n. One thought to bring bad luck.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A person on shipboard regarded as the cause of ill luck; any one whose presence is supposed or alleged to cause misfortune.
- n. In games of chance, a player who can never win anything; a very unlucky person.
- To play the part of a Jonah to; spoil the luck of; bring ill luck to.
Wiktionary
- n. A male given name.
- n. biblical A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
- n. nautical, slang A person who brings a ship bad luck.
- n. slang, by extension of the nautical sense Any person or object which is deemed to cause bad luck; a jinx.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The Hebrew prophet, who was cast overboard as one who endangered the ship; hence, any person whose presence is unpropitious.
WordNet 3.0
- n. (Old Testament) Jonah did not wish to become a prophet so God caused a great storm to throw him overboard from a ship; he was saved by being swallowed by a whale that vomited him out onto dry land
- n. a book in the Old Testament that tells the story of Jonah and the whale
- n. a person believed to bring bad luck to those around him
Etymologies
- From Hebrew יונה ("dove"). (Wiktionary)
- Hebrew yônâ, dove; see ywn in Semitic roots.After Jonah. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“For the story of Jonah (who was commanded, however, not to go to Tarshish) see _Jonah_ i.”
“Testament the story of Jonah misquoted, and and by a small transposition a la mode de Surenhusius, representing that Jonah swallowed the whale!”
The Grounds of Christianity Examined by Comparing The New Testament with the Old
“I've been what they call a Jonah, don't you think, Mr. Gage?”
“But I do recall the story, and the term Jonah, and now can't find it anywhere.”
“In his book mentioned previously, J.S.M. Ward tells of a Roman sarcophagus in the Bardo Museum, Tunis, showing the emergence of Jonah from the whale that swallowed him for three days, and making the Sign of Preservation – in effect, indicating that his life was saved.”
“Â Jonah is relentless, even dragging one of the bounties from the church where he has set up a life as a priest.”
Review: Jonah Hex #50 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News
“Â Before exiting town, Jonah is offered a bounty (by a man dressed in the classic garb of the Lone Ranger, a funny little bit of business) on various remaining vaqueros.”
Review: Jonah Hex #50 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News
“Jonah is a talent but should really think twice about losing some weight or he is going to be another John Candy or John Belushi. blog comments powered by Disqus”
Jonah Hill and Director David Gordon Green to Pair Up for THE SITTER – Collider.com
“My friend and meme-making kingpin Jonah Peretti, who is featured at length in Wasik's book, responded with some cogent points on Facebook.”
“The more I observe the more I increasingly realize how right Jonah is in “Liberal Fascism”.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘Jonah’.
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PECH - marine zoologists
Immortal people after whom waterborne species were named. Most of them have been marine zoologists, I would guess.
e.g. Gates' goblet, Humphrey's buccinum, Turton's moon snail, etc.Schnakenbeck, Steindachner, Winterbottom, Czekanowski, Largilliert, Monterosato, Tachanovsky, Tankerville, Aldovrandi, Blainville, Burkenroad, Burmeister and 286 more...
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RELI - Books of the Bible
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings and 54 more...
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Whaleworthy & Piratical Words
A list of favorite nautical words to be sprinkled liberally throughout speech for piratical or Melvillian effect.
batten down, back and fill, beamy, baulking, beckets, bilge, bold shore, boomjumper, breaker, larboard, abaft, ash breeze and 156 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for Jonah.
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