Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to gladiators or to their combats for the entertainment of the Roman people; performed by gladiators.
  • Hence—2. Pertaining to combatants in general, as prize-fighters, disputants, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to gladiators, or to contests or combatants in general.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a gladiator.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or relating to or resembling gladiators or their combat

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

gladiator +‎ -ial

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Examples

  • A brilliant and brutal near-future SF satire about businessmen who manage wars (backing the side who they think will earn them the most profit if victorious) and climb the corporate ladder by killing off their competition in gladiatorial car duels; reads as if it were written by Harlan Ellison channeling Chuck Palaniuk, and ranks with the best of what either of those two have written.

    John Joseph Adams » 2005 » September 2005

  • A brilliant and brutal near-future SF satire about businessmen who manage wars (backing the side who they think will earn them the most profit if victorious) and climb the corporate ladder by killing off their competition in gladiatorial car duels; reads as if it were written by Harlan Ellison channeling Chuck Palaniuk, and ranks with the best of what either of those two have written.

    John Joseph Adams » Market Forces by Richard K. Morgan 2005

  • But, I say, if you have such a down on Lord's and what you call the gladiatorial business, why on earth do you go? "

    From a Cornish Window A New Edition Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch 1903

  • We’re going to pit the sick and elderly against each other in gladiatorial competitions on television.

    Think Progress » Lauer Calls Out Cantor’s Claim That The GOP Stood ‘Ready And Willing’ To Work With Obama On The Stimulus 2010

  • Surprisingly, the Romans called a gladiatorial enterprise a game: in Latin, ludus.

    The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009

  • Surprisingly, the Romans called a gladiatorial enterprise a game: in Latin, ludus.

    The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009

  • Surprisingly, the Romans called a gladiatorial enterprise a game: in Latin, ludus.

    The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009

  • Surprisingly, the Romans called a gladiatorial enterprise a game: in Latin, ludus.

    The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009

  • Games of the Greeks; while in the fierce and sanguinary character it sometimes assumed, especially before it was brought fully under the spirit of Chivalry, it recalls the gladiatorial combats of the Roman amphitheatre.

    General History for Colleges and High Schools Philip Van Ness Myers

  • And what should have been the most relaxing, the most intimate, the most tender moment of the day, when a dad sits down to read to his son, became instead this kind of gladiatorial battle of wills; a clash between his speed and my -- or, my speed and his slowness.

    Carl Honore praises slowness 2005

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