Pandora's boxn.
/panˌdɔːrəz ˈbɒks/, U.S. /pænˌdɔrəz ˈbɑks/ 1. Greek Mythology. The box containing all human ills, which was opened by Pandora (or, in some versions of the story, by Epimetheus).In one story Pandora was created out of clay by Hephaestus on the orders of Zeus in order to punish Prometheus for having brought the gift of fire back to the world; she was sent as a gift to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus, with a large jar or box of evils which were then released into the world, hope alone remaining to assuage the lot of humanity.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > characters from classical mythology > miscellaneous > Pandora's box
Pandora's box1579
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 27 I can not liken our affection better then..to Pandoraes boxe, lift vpp the lidde, out flyes the Deuil, shut it vp fast, it cannot hurt vs.
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. Kv When as out of Pandoras Boxe of maladyes which Epimetheus opened, all manner of euills flewe into the world.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Let. to Friend (1690) 6 And if Asia, Africa, and America should bring in their List [of diseases]. Pandoras Box would swell, and there must be a strange Pathology.
1767 W. Nelson Let. 14 Aug. in John Norton & Sons (1968) 31 He goes to Baltimore soon;..wch he will begin upon there & bring with him matter enough to infect the world, A second Pandora's Box.
1816 J. B. Burges Dragon Knight vii. 193 Yet, like Pandora's box, whence flew dispers'd All the dire mischiefs which mankind have curs'd.
1886 E. Lynn Linton Paston Carew III. xiii. 279 Pandora's box was opened for him, and all the pains and griefs his imagination had ever figured were abroad.
1909 A. C. Benson Poems 261 When Epimetheus half undid Pandora's box in surly greed.
1991 Raritan Summer 82 When we unpack the obstacles in analysis..we find them, like Pandora's box, full of the unusual and the forbidden.
2. figurative. An issue which, once broached, gives rise to many complicated problems; a matter in which interference is unwise. Frequently with of.
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the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > source of
abusement1535
Pandora's tub1612
Pandora's box1648
(to open) a can of worms1962
1648 T. Warmstry Suspiria Ecclesiae 292 This is a great evill, a wombe bigge with a multitude of mischiefes: A nest of Serpents:..A Pandora's Boxe full of Pestilences and infections.
1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned (1713) ii. i. 264 There may be some hope left in the bottom of this Pandora's box of calamities.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) ii. v. §20. 327 They might think Rebellion..to be a Pandora's Box, fraught with all Sorts of Evils to a Nation.
1799 W. Godwin St. Leon IV. i. 27 The mischiefs of a thousand various names, that issued from this Pandora's box.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes v. 276 The Eighteenth was a Sceptical Century; in which little word there is a whole Pandora's Box of miseries.
1868 J. Pleasants Callamura 453 The Pandora's box of evils their [sc. the slaves] sudden emancipation has opened on the country.
1901 Times 27 Feb. 5/3 The threatened special session of Congress, with its Pandora's box of awful possibilities, will be averted.
1995 D. Marc Bonfire of Humanities 100 Some thought it a welcome airing of the nation's dirty laundry; others deplored the regrettable opening of a Pandora's box.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1579