behemoth : M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for January 7 is:

behemoth \bih-HEE-muth\ noun
1 often capitalized : a mighty animal described in Job 40:15-24 as an example of the power of God
*2 : something of monstrous size, power, or appearance

Example sentence:
Suddenly a behemoth of a truck, honking madly and going at least 80 mph, bore down on me from out of the blue.

Did you know?
The original "behemoth" was biblical; it designated a mysterious river-dwelling beast in the Book of Job. Based on that description, scholars have concluded that the biblical behemoth was probably inspired by a hippopotamus, but details about the creature's exact nature were vague. The word first passed from the Hebrew into Late Latin, where, according to English poet and monk John Lydgate, writing in 1430, it "playne expresse[d] a beast rude full of cursednesse." In English, "behemoth" was eventually applied more generally to anything large and powerful.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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