Crossword clues for ferocity
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ferocity \Fe*roc"i*ty\, n. [L. ferocitas, fr. ferox, -ocis, fierce, kin to ferus wild: cf. F. ferocit['e]. See Fierce.] Savage wildness or fierceness; fury; cruelty; as, ferocity of countenance.
The pride and ferocity of a Highland chief.
--Macaulay.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1600, from French férocité, from Latin ferocitatem (nominative ferocitas) "fierceness," from ferocis, oblique case of ferox "bold, courageous, warlike; fierce, savage, headstrong, cruel," literally "wild-looking," a derivative of ferus "wild" (see fierce) + -ox, -ocem (genitive -ocis), a suffix meaning "looking or appearing" (cognate with Greek ops "eye, sight;" see eye (n.)).
Wiktionary
n. The condition of being ferocious.
WordNet
n. the property of being wild or turbulent; "the storm's violence" [syn: fierceness, furiousness, fury, vehemence, violence, wildness]
Usage examples of "ferocity".
From the starboard bow Captain Abernethy shrilled a cry of warning, and the heavy, bellowing voice of Loge shouted an answer of challenge and ferocity.
The ferocity of their charges was astonishing, and at the time, Brother, I could scarcely believe that actual battle with the Alemanni could have been any more brutal.
Beneath the terrible ferocity of the beasts the men were soon scampering in all directions--those who still lived to scamper, for the great fangs of the apes of Akut and the tearing talons of Sheeta already had found more than a single victim.
Matilda was less naturally gifted but she had a ferocity which the best arbalists possessed, launching something of their own will at the target ahead of the bolt.
Carnivals with wild kicks, rough parties with promiscuous sex, alcoholic orgies and bacchanalian dances, violence of all kinds, vertiginous adventures and explosions mark the life styles struck with the ferocity of this stage of the birth experience.
On the campaign trail, Barnett was transformed from a kindly grandfather figure into a zealot of scorching defiance and ferocity.
Supernaturally keen, her sight and senses, aware of the life of small birds, so that she felt she was smacking her lips and almost giggled and broke out of the rapport with the absurdity of it, sudden burning hunger and a desire almost sexual in its ferocity .
There had been storms for weeks, winds and rains with a ferocity few could remember in that part of the state, and a lot of the people - especially the older folks - who lived out of town were finding it tough to get into Bleachfield for worship on a Sunday.
Pukpuk only as a minor impediment in the background, and had failed completely to observe the very obvious signs of jealousy displayed by his small companion, or the ferocity with which he gnawed his catnip and bristled his red eyebrows.
He touched Drumfire with his toes and broke into a trot, heading directly for the and una By now the Nguni must have understood the terrible menace of the firearms, but the man showed no fear: he increased the speed of his charge, and lifted his shield to clear his spear arm, his face twisted with the ferocity of his war-cry.
But while the war upon godlessness thus degenerated into a secular sport in one direction, it maintained all its pristine quality, and even took on a new ferocity in another direction.
The ball hit the tilted bat with all the ferocity The Man had put into it and took off, Harrovians in pursuit.
The small black eyes snapped up to bear on the Kanten with narrowly focused ferocity, but Fagin appeared not to notice as he continued.
In a couple of minutes, the ten Turanians lay in pools of blood, though eight silent figures in bloodstained khalats bore witness to the ferocity of the defense.
The rains are gray solid sheets of water, slamming into the mock-Spanish house with sudden sideways ferocity and soaking everything, slashing through the window louvers and damping beds and curtains until everything seems heavy and turning-green with moisture.