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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Greek Mythology A king who for his crimes was condemned in Hades to stand in water that receded when he tried to drink, and with fruit hanging above him that receded when he reached for it.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. [lowercase] A case containing decanters. It is locked so that the decanters are in plain sight, yet the contents cannot be removed without the owner's key.
  2. n. The leading genus of Tantalinæ, now generally separated into two. The Old World form is Tantalus ibis, with several related species, of Africa, Asia, and the East Indies. The only American representative is T. loculator, the wood-ibis of the southern United States and southward. It is known in Arizona and southern California as the Colorado turkey (or water-turkey), from the Colorado river. (See wood-ibis.) The name has been erroneously applied to several different ibises which belong to another family—a misnomer due in part to an old error which identified T. ibis with the Egyptian ibis, Ibis religiosa.

Wiktionary

  1. n. obsolete Mycteria, the genus of certain storks.
  2. n. Greek mythology A Phrygian king who was condemned to remain in Tartarus, chin deep in water, with fruit-laden branches hanging above his head; whenever he tried to drink or eat, the water and fruit receded out of reach.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Gr. Myth.) A Phrygian king who was punished in the lower world by being placed in the midst of a lake whose waters reached to his chin but receded whenever he attempted to allay his thirst, while over his head hung branches laden with choice fruit which likewise receded whenever he stretched out his hand to grasp them.
  2. n. (Zoöl.) A genus of wading birds comprising the wood ibises.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. (Greek mythology) a wicked king and son of Zeus; condemned in Hades to stand in water that receded when he tried to drink and beneath fruit that receded when he reached for it

Etymologies

  1. Latin, from Greek Tantalos; see telə- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “The name Tantalus, if slightly changed, offers two etymologies; either apo tes tou lithou talanteias, or apo tou talantaton einai, signifying at once the hanging of the stone over his head in the world below, and the misery which he brought upon his country.”

    Cratylus

  • “She, like Tantalus, is placed in a situation where the intellectual blessing she sighs for is within her view; but she is not permitted to attain it: she is conscious of possessing equally strong mental powers; but she is obliged to yield, as the weaker creature.”

    Letter to the Women of England, on the Injustice of Mental Subordination

  • “Among the myriad objects mounted in his Brooklyn loft is a kinetic artwork by his younger brother, Chris, called "Tantalus Mackerel.”

    The Wall Street Journal: The Vixen Diaries

  • “Did you ever hear the story of an ancient gentleman called Tantalus?”

    Lysbeth, a Tale of the Dutch

  • “Staneholme, or to take the fee for the dowager lands of Eweford, and dwell in state in the centre of the stone and lime, and reek, and lords and ladies of Edinburgh; in part because I can hold out no longer, nor bide another day in Tantalus, which is the book name for an ill place of fruitless longing and blighted hope.”

    Girlhood and Womanhood The Story of some Fortunes and Misfortunes

  • “The thirst of Tantalus, which is eternal and unquenchable -- the pain of Tityus, upon whose liver the vulture forever preys -- were here realized upon a gigantic scale.”

    Cause and contrast : an essay on the American crisis,

  • “Might it be, perhaps, that sepia drawing -- above the 'Tantalus' on the oak sideboard at the far end -- of a woman's face gazing out into the room?”

    Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works

  • “That universe’s Kirk had come back, found the secret of his great weapon—an alien device called the Tantalus Field, useful for making people vanish abruptly—had been compromised; in fact, given to Spock.”

    Simon & Schuster: Dark Mirror

  • “Also, as time went by, there arose a mountain house on Tantalus, to which the family could flee when the "sick wind" blew from the south.”

    Chun Ah Chun

  • “Hosts of guests had known the comfort and joy of her mountain house on Tantalus, and of her volcano house, her mauka (mountainward) house, and her makai (seaward) house on the big island of Hawaii.”

    ON THE MAKALOA MAT

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hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. mythical being

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reverse dictionary (9)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. water-turkey
  1. wood-stork
  1. wood ibis
  1. tantalid
  1. tantalism
  1. Pelops
  1. Niobe
  1. pelican ibis
  1. pelopid

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Comments

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  • ruzuzu "n. |lowercase| A case containing decanters. It is locked so that the decanters are in plain sight, yet the contents cannot be removed without the owner's key."
    --Cent. Dict. Oct 16, 2012

  • jesse74 He abused the divine favour by revealing to mankind the secrets he had learned in heaven (Diod. Sic. iv. 74), or by killing his son Pelops (q.v.). and serving him up to the gods at table, in order to test their powers of observation (Ovid, Metam. vi. 401). Another story was that he stole nectar and ambrosia from heaven and gave them to men (Pindar, 01. i. 60). According to others, Pandareus stole a golden dog which guarded the temple of Zeus in Crete, and gave it to Tantalus to take care of. But, when Pandareus demanded the dog back, Tantalus denied that he had received it. Therefore Zeus turned Pandareus into a stone,. and flung down Tantalus with Mount Sipylus on the top of him (Antoninus Liberalis, 36). 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. Feb 21, 2012

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‘Tantalus’ has been looked up 1462 times, loved by 2 people, added to 6 lists, commented on 2 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.