Hypertext Webster Gateway: "colossus"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Colossus \Co*los"sus\, n.; pl. L. {Colossi}, E. {Colossuses}.
[L., fr. Gr. ?.]
1. A statue of gigantic size. The name was especially applied
to certain famous statues in antiquity, as the Colossus of
Nero in Rome, the Colossus of Apollo at Rhodes.
He doth bestride the narrow world Like a colossus.
--Shak.
Note: There is no authority for the statement that the legs
of the Colossus at Rhodes extended over the mouth of
the harbor. --Dr. Wm. Smith.
2. Any man or beast of gigantic size.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
colossus
n 1: someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
[syn: {giant}, {goliath}, {behemoth}, {monster}]
2: a person of exceptional importance and reputation [syn: {behemoth},
{giant}, {heavyweight}, {titan}]
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