Tantalusn.
/ˈtantələs/, /ˈtantl̩əs/, U.S. /ˈtæn(t)ələs/ 1. Name of a mythical king of Phrygia, son of Zeus and the nymph Pluto, condemned, for revealing the secrets of the gods, to stand in Tartarus up to his chin in water, which constantly receded as he stooped to drink, and with branches of fruit hanging above him which ever fled his grasp; a rock is also said to have hung over him threatening to fall. Hence allusively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > characters from classical mythology > miscellaneous
minotaureOE
Tantalusc1369
Aegipan1538
Pandora1581
Briareus1589
Laocoön1601
hippalektryon1822
c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 709 I haue more sorowe than Tantale.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 139 Ther is a peine..Benethe in helle, which men calle The wofull peine of Tantaly.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 90 As the Apples that hang at Tantalus nose.
1598 R. Hakluyt tr. A. Jónsson in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) I. 568 He gathereth fruits as they say, out of Tantalus his garden.
1767 B. Thornton tr. Plautus Miser v vi, in B. Thornton et al. tr. Plautus Comedies II. 257 The masters of our age..I call them Gripe-alls, Harpies, Tantalusses.
a1771 T. Gray Imit. Propertius in Wks. (1814) II. 89 The long thirst of Tantalus allay.
1835 J. Ross Narr. Second Voy. North-west Passage xlvii. 610 It was now long since it had been but the water of Tantalus.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xliii. 397 It seems like our cup of Tantalus; we are never to reach it.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 21 July 7/2 It serves as a veritable tantalus to the market.
2. Usually with lower-case initial. A stand containing usually three cut-glass decanters which, though apparently free, cannot be withdrawn until the grooved bar which engages the stoppers is raised.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > decanter > decanter stand
bottle slider1763
slider1770
bottle slide1771
bottle coaster1780
coasterc1887
Tantalus1888
tantalus-stand1899
tantalus-case1905
wine coaster1956
1888 G. Grossmith Society Clown 178 I sent him a small souvenir in the shape of a ‘Tantalus’.
1898 To-Day 5 Nov. 1/2 He crossed to a recess, and touched the spring of a tantalus. It flew back with a harsh click.
1904 Strand Mag. Mar. 246/2 A tantalus containing brandy and whiskey.
1904 Daily News 30 Aug. 8 The winner of the sack race received a two-bottle tantalus.
3. Ornithology. A genus of storks, including T. ibis (formerly erroneously identified with Ibis religiosa of Egypt); the wood stork or wood ibis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Ciconiiformes (storks, etc.) > [noun] > family Ciconiidae (stork) > tantallus loculater (wood-stork)
wood-pelican1754
jabiru1774
wood-ibis1785
Tantalus1824
wood-tantalus1824
wood-stork1884
ironhead1892
1824 J. F. Stephens Shaw's Gen. Zool. XII. 1 The Tantali in many respects resemble the Storks.
1824 J. F. Stephens Shaw's Gen. Zool. XII. 2 The White-headed or Ceylonese Tantalus, is the largest of the genus.
1827 R. Jameson tr. G. Cuvier Ess. Theory Earth (ed. 5) 313 M. Macé also sent us a tantalus.
1827 R. Jameson tr. G. Cuvier Ess. Theory Earth (ed. 5) 313 The Tantalus ibis of naturalists.
1896 List Vertebrated Animals Gardens Zool. Soc. (ed. 9) 423 American Tantalus.
1896 List Vertebrated Animals Gardens Zool. Soc. (ed. 9) 424 African Tantalus..Indian Tantalus.
Compounds
C1. attributive and in other combinations, as tantalus-draught; tantalus-like adj.
ΚΠ
1601 R. Yarington Two Lamentable Trag. sig. K3 Yet Tantall like, he shall but glut his eye Nor feede his body with salubrious fruite.
a1850 M. F. Ossoli Life Without & Within (1860) 30 Tantalus-like, he makes this world a Tartarus.
1908 Edinb. Rev. July 101 The Tantalus-draught escaped his thirsty lips.
C2.
tantalus-case n. = sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > decanter > decanter stand
bottle slider1763
slider1770
bottle slide1771
bottle coaster1780
coasterc1887
Tantalus1888
tantalus-stand1899
tantalus-case1905
wine coaster1956
1905 Daily Chron. 11 July 7/1 Presents, including..a tantalus case, a diamond pin, and other trifles.
tantalus-cup n. see quot. 1842; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > optical and scientific toys > [noun]
multiplying-glass1639
Cartesian devil1731
kaleidoscope1817
myriorama1823
thaumatrope1827
bottle imp1833
phantasmascope1833
phenakistoscope1834
stroboscope1836
anorthoscope1842
tantalus-cup1842
phantascope1851
phantoscope1861
Pharaoh's serpent1863
phosphoroscope1866
zoetrope1866
wheel of life1872
praxinoscope1878
zoopraxiscope1881
phantoscope1894
Newton's cradle1971
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 1207/2 Tantalus's cup, a philosophical toy which amusingly exhibits the principle of the siphon... The legs of the siphon are concealed by the hollow figure of a man whose chin is on a level with the bend of the siphon; so that the figure stands like Tantalus in the fable,—up to the chin in water, but unable to quench his thirst.
1884 H. R. Haggard Dawn I. vii. 86 No misadventure came to mock them, dashing the Tantalus cup of joy to earth before their eyes.
tantalus-stand n. = sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > decanter > decanter stand
bottle slider1763
slider1770
bottle slide1771
bottle coaster1780
coasterc1887
Tantalus1888
tantalus-stand1899
tantalus-case1905
wine coaster1956
1899 A. Conan Doyle Duet (1909) viii. 46/2 The Tantalus spirit-stand stood upon the walnut sideboard.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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