Jezebel

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Jezebel \Jez"e*bel\, n. [From Jezebel, Heb. Izebel, the wife of
     Ahab king of Israel.]
     A bold, vicious woman; a termagant. --Spectator.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:



  Jezebel
       n 1: wife of Ahab who was king of Israel; according to the Old
            Testament she was a cruel immoral queen who fostered the
            worship of Baal and tried to kill Elijah and other
            prophets of Israel (9th century BC)
       2: a shameless impudent scheming woman

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  67 Moby Thesaurus words for "Jezebel":
     Aspasia, Delilah, Messalina, Phryne, Thais, adventuress, bad woman,
     baggage, beldam, bitch, bitch-kitty, broad, chippy, clitoromaniac,
     cocotte, courtesan, demimondaine, demimonde, demirep, drab,
     easy lay, easy woman, femme fatale, floozy, frail sister, fury,
     grimalkin, grisette, hag, harem girl, harridan, hellcat, hellhag,
     hetaera, houri, hussy, hysteromaniac, jade, loose woman, nymphet,
     nympho, nymphomaniac, odalisque, pickup, quean, seductress,
     she-devil, she-wolf, siren, slut, strumpet, tart, temptress,
     termagant, tigress, trollop, trull, uteromaniac, vamp, vampire,
     virago, vixen, wanton, wench, whore, wildcat, witch
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Jezebel
     chaste, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Zidonians, and
     the wife of Ahab, the king of Israel (1 Kings 16:31). This was
     the "first time that a king of Israel had allied himself by
     marriage with a heathen princess; and the alliance was in this
     case of a peculiarly disastrous kind. Jezebel has stamped her
     name on history as the representative of all that is designing,
     crafty, malicious, revengeful, and cruel. She is the first great
     instigator of persecution against the saints of God. Guided by
     no principle, restrained by no fear of either God or man,
     passionate in her attachment to her heathen worship, she spared
     no pains to maintain idolatry around her in all its splendour.
     Four hundred and fifty prophets ministered under her care to
     Baal, besides four hundred prophets of the groves [R.V.,
     'prophets of the Asherah'], which ate at her table (1 Kings
     18:19). The idolatry, too, was of the most debased and sensual
     kind." Her conduct was in many respects very disastrous to the
     kingdom both of Israel and Judah (21:1-29). At length she came
     to an untimely end. As Jehu rode into the gates of Jezreel, she
     looked out at the window of the palace, and said, "Had Zimri
     peace, who slew his master?" He looked up and called to her
     chamberlains, who instantly threw her from the window, so that
     she was dashed in pieces on the street, and his horses trod her
     under their feet. She was immediately consumed by the dogs of
     the street (2 Kings 9:7-37), according to the word of Elijah the
     Tishbite (1 Kings 21:19).
     
       Her name afterwards came to be used as the synonym for a
     wicked woman (Rev. 2: 20).
     
       It may be noted that she is said to have been the grand-aunt
     of Dido, the founder of Carthage.
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Jezebel, chaste