Grim Reaper
11
7.6
- noun
- /ɡrɪm ˈriːpər/
- Literature
:
parca
- The Grim Reaper is often portrayed in art as a haunting figure carrying a scythe to collect souls.
- Death, the Grim Reaper
OK, so the grim Reaper says OK, wish granted.
- OK, so the grim Reaper says OK, wish granted.
- You know, the Grim Reaper is is is upgrading his technology.
- Like when I hear the doorbell, I'm like, oh, maybe it's the Grim Reaper.
- Mitch McConnell, the Grim Reaper, the person bills go to to die, says that we need a stimulus package this year.
- And all this is left is Grace Jones, Britney Spears and the Grim Reaper.
- I think, I think that Ted Bundy killed a lot more people than what about these guys in a mafia neck, Guys like the Grim Reaper.
- If this is that Grim Reaper, if this is that dirty daddy that's going to freaking hide a knife inside of your inside of your spleen, then yeah, you have to.
- And Speaking of fear, the maniacs over at Hellfire are back on their bullshit with another Skeleton Grim Reaper sauce that is simply called Fear This.
Examples
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Nobody keeps the Grim Reaper waiting.
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Oh, by the way, have you seen the Grim Reaper?
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Any sign of the Grim Reaper?
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I call him the Grim Reaper.
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I said, "Back off, Grim Reaper."
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The Grim Reaper was coming, and I had nowhere to hide.
Fiction book (2001) -
I'm still trying to ward off the Grim Reaper as much as I can.
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Enter the Grim Reaper.
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You're a little excited, a little fearful, and here comes the Grim Reaper.
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The Grim Reaper thinned the herd of baby-boomer entertainment icons this summer.
Blog text (23)
Synonyms
152
7.9
A figure in stories that represents the end of life
52
9.9
A figure who takes the souls of dead people, shown as an old man or skeleton with a scythe
A ghostly horse rider people say brings death
How Scary
- Literature
11
7.6
- Literature
152
7.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
Knowing 'grim' (suggesting something stern or dreadful) and 'reaper' (one who reaps/harvests) lets a learner infer a frightening figure who 'reaps', which can point toward a death-related role. However, the full cultural personification (a skeletal figure with a scythe representing death) and the idiomatic sense as the personification of death are not strictly derivable from the parts, so partial knowledge plus cultural exposure is needed.
Etymology
Grim Reaper is the image of a dark skeleton or old man who carries a long blade called a scythe. One popular story says the reaper is like a farmer who uses a scythe to cut crops, so he 'harvests' people when their time is up, and the name came to mean 'death'.