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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Colossi

Colossus \Co*los"sus\, n.; pl. L. Colossi, E. Colossuses.

  1. A statue of gigantic size. The name was especially applied to certain famous statues in antiquity, as the Colossus of Nero in Rome, the Colossus of Apollo at Rhodes.

    He doth bestride the narrow world Like a colossus.
    --Shak.

    Note: There is no authority for the statement that the legs of the Colossus at Rhodes extended over the mouth of the harbor.
    --Dr. Wm. Smith.

  2. Any man or beast of gigantic size. [1913 Webster] ||

Wiktionary
colossi

n. (plural of colossus English)

WordNet
colossi

See colossus

colossus
  1. n. someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful [syn: giant, goliath, behemoth, monster]

  2. a person of exceptional importance and reputation [syn: behemoth, giant, heavyweight, titan]

  3. [also: colossi (pl)]

Usage examples of "colossi".

He caused temples to be erected in most of the great cities of the kingdom, he added to the temple of Ptah at Memphis, and erected immense colossi in front of its pylons in memory of his deliverance from the fire.

Hundreds of gigantic statues, some of which are between 33 and 66 ft high weigh as much as 50 tons, still stare challengingly at the visitor today—like robots which seem to be waiting solely to be set in motion again Originally these colossi also wore hats.

He had wheeling visions of colossi, gigantic shapes of stone bathed in the milky flood of the moon, each guarding the black mouth of a cavern.

He saw that no two of the colossi were alike, that some were shaped like women, and that some, like the gods of ancient Egypt, bore the heads of animals and birds.

The caverns of the colossi were like immense eyes in the brown face of the precipice.

Across the lake, the caverns of the colossi were black mouths in the moon−glow on the cliffs.

More than anything, these colossi conformed to the old concept of “arcology” as a single city-in-a-building.

Splendidly intricate colossi of crystal and shining metal that proclaimed the true nature of the Kiint to any visitor.

They shielded their eyes from the bruised tangerine nimbus of the light-tube to watch one of the dark colossi soar upwards from a collapsing lobby.

All illusion of the steam-powered colossi had expired, leaving one of the Norfolk Railway Company’s ordinary eight-wheel tractor units buried in the soil.

As we drew near we perceived that they were Colossi of some sort or another, and rightly conjectured that before us sat the three "Silent Ones" that are held in such awe by the Kukuana people.

The two male Colossi, on the contrary, were draped, and presented a terrifying cast of features, especially the one to our right, which had the face of a devil.

Perhaps these Colossi were designed by some Phoenician official who managed the mines.

Straight in front of us, at a distance of some fifty paces from the backs of the Colossi, rose a sheer wall of rock, eighty feet or more in height, that gradually sloped upwards till it formed the base of the lofty snow-wreathed peak, which soared into the air three thousand feet above us.

The ability to cover a distance was a plus, making the industrious colossi more self-sufficient.