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Polyphemus

American

[pol-uh-fee-muhs] / ˌpɒl əˈfi məs /

noun

Classical Mythology.

a Cyclops who was blinded by Odysseus.

Polyphemus British

/ ˌpɒlɪˈfiːməs /

noun

Greek myth a cyclops who imprisoned Odysseus and his companions in his cave. To effect his escape, Odysseus blinded him

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The EU says a primitive form of feta is mentioned in the Odyssey, when the hero of the ancient epic takes cheese from the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

But you can’t control your ears any more than Polyphemus can control his torment.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2020

Multiple villages in Sicily claimed to possess the remains of Polyphemus, the Cyclops blinded by Odysseus.

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2017

Tellingly, Polyphemus lives among animals—he “counts a sheep and a ram as his closest companions”—and suffers in otherwise undisturbed isolation.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 16, 2015

Polyphemus charged into the surf, but his foot was still wounded.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023