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Labyrinth   /lˈæbərˌɪnθ/   Listen
noun
Labyrinth  n.  
1.
An edifice or place full of intricate passageways which render it difficult to find the way from the interior to the entrance; as, the Egyptian and Cretan labyrinths. Note: The Labyrinth of Classical Mythology was a vast maze constructed by Daedalus on the island of Crete, in order to confine the Minotaur; the task was done at the command of King Minos. One theory suggests that the myth had some basis in the structure of the palace of King Minos at Knossos, in Crete, it being a multistoried royal palace with labyrinthine passages between rooms.
2.
Hence: Any intricate or involved inclosure; especially, an ornamental maze or inclosure in a park or garden, having high hedges separating confusingly convoluted passages.
3.
Any object or arrangement of an intricate or involved form, or having a very complicated nature. "The serpent... fast sleeping soon he found, In labyrinth of many a round self-rolled." "The labyrinth of the mind."
4.
An inextricable or bewildering difficulty. "I' the maze and winding labyrinths o' the world."
5.
(Anat.) The internal ear. See Note under Ear.
6.
(Metal.) A series of canals through which a stream of water is directed for suspending, carrying off, and depositing at different distances, the ground ore of a metal.
7.
(Arch.) A pattern or design representing a maze, often inlaid in the tiled floor of a church, etc.
Synonyms: Maze; confusion; intricacy; windings. Labyrinth, Maze. Labyrinth, originally; the name of an edifice or excavation, carries the idea of design, and construction in a permanent form, while maze is used of anything confused or confusing, whether fixed or shifting. Maze is less restricted in its figurative uses than labyrinth. We speak of the labyrinth of the ear, or of the mind, and of a labyrinth of difficulties; but of the mazes of the dance, the mazes of political intrigue, or of the mind being in a maze.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Labyrinth" Quotes from Famous Books



... end of the first year of the war the scene has stretched out so tremendously that my poor tired brain can hardly take it in. I suppose it is all clear to the general staff, but I don't know. To me it all looks like a great labyrinth,—and the Germans are at the gates of Warsaw. Of course this does not "alter the final result"—when that comes—but it means more destruction, more land to win back, and, I imagine, such desolation in Poland as makes even the Belgian disaster look, ...
— On the Edge of the War Zone - From the Battle of the Marne to the Entrance of the Stars and Stripes • Mildred Aldrich

... far out of reach of the expectant maiden's extended hands. Another oar was hurled after her, with no better effect; when, for the first time, a shade of despair passed over her agitated countenance; for she saw herself rapidly drifting directly into the jaws of a wild and fearful labyrinth of breakers not fifty yards below, where, in all probability, her fragile canoe would be dashed to pieces, and herself thrown against the slippery and jagged rock, drawn down, and lost. Claud, who had witnessed, with trembling anxiety, the hunter's vain attempts to place the means ...
— Gaut Gurley • D. P. Thompson

... more formed to whet each other's faculties by discussion, as on few points of common interest between them did their opinions agree: and that this difference had its root deep in the conformation of their respective minds, needs but a glance through the rich, glittering labyrinth of Shelley's pages to ...
— My Recollections of Lord Byron • Teresa Guiccioli

... extreme N., Landfall Islands, separated by the navigable Cleugh Passage; Interview Island, separated by the very narrow but navigable Interview Passage, off the W. coast of the Middle Andaman; the Labyrinth Island off the S.W. coast of the South Andaman, through which is the safe navigable Elphinstone Passage; Ritchie's (or the Andaman) Archipelago off the E. coast of the South Andaman and Baratang, separated by ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... shrivelled thing. Men grew to be conscious of the vastness of the universe. At the same time and by the same process the Encyclopaedia gave them a key to the plan, a guiding thread in the immense labyrinth. The genealogical tree, or classification of arts and sciences, which with a few modifications was borrowed from Bacon and appeared at the end of the Prospectus, is seen to be faulty and inadequate. It distributes the various branches of knowledge with reference to faculties ...
— Diderot and the Encyclopaedists (Vol 1 of 2) • John Morley


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