1200-1300Old Frenchholocauste, from Greekholokaustos ‘burnt whole’, from holos ‘whole’ + kaiein ‘to burn’
Examples
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Dance music that might survive a nuclear holocaust.
He realized that the world had changed and that each side was capable of destroying the other in a nuclear holocaust.
In the final play Freedom to Party the holocaust is over, but the battles remain.
Nuclear deterrence becomes nuclear holocaust when local wars get out of hand.
On the following day Walesa visited the Yad Veshem memorial to the victims of the holocaust.
Collocations
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES►nuclear holocaust
With the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the possibility of a nuclear holocaust (=a nuclear war that destroys much of the Earth) was greatly reduced.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE►nuclear
· He realized that the world had changed and that each side was capable of destroying the other in a nuclear holocaust.· Dance music that might survive a nuclear holocaust.· The novel's apocalyptic ending takes on a universal dimension by being implicitly compared to a nuclear holocaust.· Nuclear deterrence becomes nuclear holocaust when local wars get out of hand.· Ironically it looked more like a scene from after the nuclear holocaust instead of a plea to prevent one.
Phrases
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY►the Holocaust
In the final play Freedom to Party the holocaust is over, but the battles remain.
One way we tried to comprehend the Holocaust was by developing certain misapprehensions about it.
Particularly important are its compelling eyewitness interviews, since there are still those among us who actually believe the Holocaust never happened.
She could send him a proof of the article on the Holocaust she had written for Fem Sap.
She learned only in recent weeks that three grandparents and other relatives who stayed behind died in the Holocaust.
Some critics echo the radical anti-abortion lobby in comparing stem cell research to the Holocaust.
Unless he changes his mind, there may be more holocausts to remember on the Holocaust memorial days to come.
1a situation in which there is great destruction and a lot of people die: a nuclear holocaust2the Holocaust the killing of millions of Jews and other people by the Nazis during the Second World War → genocide