Damocles

One is faced with imminent danger or trouble. In Greek mythology, the courtier Damocles was forced to sit beneath a sword suspended by a single hair to emphasize the instability of a king's fortunes. I know how irritable and unpredictable the boss can be, so I feel like the sword of Damocles hangs over me whenever I'm alone with him. With the threat of nuclear war, many feel that a sword of Damocles is hanging over the entire world.

One is faced with imminent danger or trouble. In Greek mythology, the courtier Damocles was forced to sit beneath a sword suspended by a single hair to emphasize the instability of a king's fortunes. I know his history of violent behavior, so I feel like a sword of Damocles is hanging over my head whenever I'm alone with him. With the threat of nuclear war, many feel that the sword of Damocles hangs over the world's head like never before.

Any imminent, impending, or eventual trouble, danger, or disaster. In Greek mythology, the courtier Damocles was forced to sit beneath a sword suspended by a single hair to emphasize the instability of a king's fortunes. The threat of war has hung over the region like Damocles' sword for nearly a decade. Many businesses view the new tax law as a Damocles' sword hanging over their heads.

One is faced with imminent danger or trouble. In Greek mythology, the courtier Damocles was forced to sit beneath a sword suspended by a single hair to emphasize the instability of a king's fortunes. I know how irritable and unpredictable the boss can be, so I feel like Damocles' sword hangs over me whenever I'm alone with him. With the threat of nuclear war, many feel that Damocles' sword is hanging over the entire world.

One is faced with imminent danger or trouble. In Greek mythology, the courtier Damocles was forced to sit beneath a sword suspended by a single hair to emphasize the instability of a king's fortunes. I know how irritable and unpredictable the boss can be, so I feel like Damocles' sword hangs over my head whenever I'm alone with him. With the threat of nuclear war, many feel that Damocles' sword is hanging over the entire world's head.

Any imminent, impending, or eventual trouble, danger, or disaster. In Greek mythology, the courtier Damocles was forced to sit beneath a sword suspended by a single hair to emphasize the instability of a king's fortunes. Usually used in the phrase "a/the sword of Damocles hangs over one/one's head." The threat of war has hung over the region like the sword of Damocles for nearly a decade. The new tax law is proving to be a sword of Damocles hanging over our very business model.

Also, Damocles' sword. Impending disaster, as in The likelihood of lay-offs has been a sword of Damocles over the department for months. This expression alludes to the legend of Damocles, a servile courtier to King Dionysius I of Syracuse. The king, weary of Damocles' obsequious flattery, invited him to a banquet and seated him under a sword hung by a single hair, so as to point out to him the precariousness of his position. The idiom was first recorded in 1747. The same story gave rise to the expression hang by a thread.

If the Sword of Damocles hangs over someone or hangs over their head, they are in a situation in which something very bad could happen to them at any time. As a Grand Prix driver you have the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head at every moment. He lives with the illness, knowing that it is a Sword of Damocles, hanging over him. Note: This expression comes from a Greek legend. Dionysius, the ruler of Syracuse, was annoyed by Damocles, who kept flattering him and saying how much he admired him. Dionysius invited Damocles to a feast, and asked him to sit in his own seat. When Damocles looked up during the feast, he noticed a sword hanging by a single thread above his head, and so he could no longer enjoy the feast. The sword symbolized the dangers and fears that rulers have, in addition to all the privileges.

Impending danger or doom. The term comes from the same Greek legend about Damocles that gave us hang by a thread. Although the story illustrates the insecurity of power and high position, in later applications the term was used to signify any kind of impending misfortune.

An imminent and/or constant threat. According to Greek legend, Damocles, a friend of King Dionysius of Syracuse, envied the ruler's great wealth and power. When Damocles told the king how fortunate he was, Dionysius offered to change places for a day. As Damocles dined at the head of the table, he happened to look up. There above his head, held by only a single horsehair, hung a sharp sword pointing downward toward his chair. Frozen with fear that the thread would break, he pointed out the predicament to the king. Dionysius nodded, acknowledging that the sword was a constant factor in his life, an actual and a metaphoric reminder that some person or circumstance might at any time cut the thread. Such risk, the king added, comes as an integral part of power. Any ever-present risk, especially one that's hanging by a thread, is how the phrase has been used.