colossus

[ kuh-los-uh s ]

/ kəˈlɒs əs /

(initial capital letter) the legendary bronze statue of Helios at Rhodes. Compare Seven Wonders of the World.

any statue of gigantic size.

anything colossal, gigantic, or very powerful.

Origin of colossus

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek kolossós statue, image, presumably < a pre-Hellenic Mediterranean language

When he brought the idea of the colossus to America, the Civil War had ended just six years earlier.

128 Years Old and Still a Looker: Happy Birthday to Lady Liberty |Elizabeth Mitchell |October 28, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The literary world he helped found and nurture, and whose landscape he bestrode like the colossus he was—that world is gone.

Peter Matthiessen Was One of the Greatest Writers of a Great Generation |Malcolm Jones |April 7, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
And Bishop, Colossus, Warpath, Blink, Sunspot, Quiksilver, Stryker and Havoc will all be there too.

The Most Anticipated Culture Events of 2014: ‘Inherent Vice,’ ‘Divergent,’ and More | |January 1, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Edmund Morgan, 97 Diminutive, almost elfin in appearance, he bestrode his field like a colossus.

The Deaths You Missed This Year |Malcolm Jones, Jimmy So, Michael Moynihan, Caitlin Dickson |December 30, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

And it is an unfamiliar one for the current generations of American who have known only one reality of America the colossus.

Could Europe’s Economic Crisis Sink Us? |Zachary Karabell |September 13, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
Teddy Jenks did, but the union gave the last known town address as the Colossus.

Astounding Stories of Super-Science February 1930 |Various
The Colossus, with his long strides, would be almost a match for the giant with the seven-leagued boots.

The Lone Ranche |Captain Mayne Reid
Before Col. —— could "realize the situation," he was in the attitude of the Colossus of Rhodes.

The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner |John Wilkinson
Shelby thought that there was a slight chance that the colossus might be able to read his lips even though he could not hear.

The Revolt of the Star Men |Raymond Gallun
He had some two and a half hours of grace, before the sun should set again and darkness release the colossus from its torpor.

The Planetoid of Peril |Paul Ernst

colossus

/ (kəˈlɒsəs) /

something very large, esp a statue

C14: from Latin, from Greek kolossos