Definitions for witch-hunt
witch-hunt

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. witch-huntnoun

   searching out and harassing dissenters

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. witch-huntnoun

   A search witches, persons believed to be using sorcery or harmful magic, in order to persecute and typically kill them.

   Etymology: * witch + hunt

2. witch-huntnoun

   An attempt to find and publicly punish a group of people perceived as a threat, usually on ideological or political grounds.

   Etymology: * witch + hunt

Freebase(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Witch-hunt

   A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, or mass hysteria. Before 1750 it was legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials. The classical period of witchhunts in Europe and North America falls into the Early Modern period or about 1480 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 executions. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In the Kingdom of Great Britain, witchcraft ceased to be an act punishable by law with the Witchcraft Act of 1735. In Germany, sorcery remained punishable by law into the late 18th century. Contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from Sub-Saharan Africa, India and Papua New Guinea. Official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon. The term "witch-hunt" since the 1930s has also been in use as a metaphor to refer to moral panics in general. This usage is especially associated with the Second Red Scare of the 1950s, with the McCarthyist persecution of communists in the United States.

Matched Categories

1. • Harassment

How to pronounce witch-hunt?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say witch-hunt in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of witch-hunt in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of witch-hunt in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of witch-hunt in a Sentence

1. Richard Welch daughter:

   I think that they are going on allegations from people that are liars, i think it's a witch hunt. I know in my heart my dad would not do something like that.

2. Claire Finkelstein:

   The Republicans have staked their defense on a variety of techniques that don't address the charges. They claim this a biased investigation, that this is a witch hunt.

3. The LCDC itself:

   I'm saying that they deserve an investigation, and that this shouldn't be a witch hunt. You don't know what the facts are. No one does, none of you know what the facts are.

4. Ben Carson:

   They understand that this is a witch hunt.

5. Donald Trump:

   So we had a very good day today, the Republican Party, our country. There was no defense of what Robert Mueller was trying to defend, whether his performance was a bad one or a good one, I think everybody understands that. ... There was no defense for this ridiculous hoax, this witch hunt that has been going on a long time.