Meaning of "witch-hunting" in the English dictionary

PRONUNCIATION OF WITCH-HUNTING

witch-hunting  [ˈwɪtʃˌhʌntɪŋ]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF WITCH-HUNTING

Witch-Hunting is a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES WITCH-HUNTING MEAN IN ENGLISH?

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 involved 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. From at least the 1930s, the term "witch-hunt" has been used figuratively to describe activities by governments to seek out and expose perceived enemies, often apparently as a means of directing public opinion by fostering a degree of moral panic.

Definition of witch-hunting in the English dictionary

The definition of witch-hunting in the dictionary is the activity of conducting a rigorous campaign to round up or expose dissenters on the pretext of safeguarding the welfare of the public. Other definition of witch-hunting is the activity of carrying out a systematic attempt to expose and persecute alleged witches.

TRANSLATION OF WITCH-HUNTING

Find out the translation of witch-hunting to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of witch-hunting from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «witch-hunting» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 以言入罪
• Translator English - Spanish: la caza de brujas
• English: witch-hunting
• Translator English - Hindi: चुड़ैल का शिकार
• Translator English - Arabic: الساحرات الصيد
• Translator English - Russian: охота на ведьм
• Translator English - Portuguese: caça às bruxas
• Translator English - Bengali: জাদুকরী-শিকার
• Translator English - French: chasse aux sorcières
• Translator English - Malay: Pemburuan sihir
• Translator English - German: Hexenverfolgung
• Translator English - Japanese: 魔女狩り
• Translator English - Korean: 마녀 사냥
• Translator English - Javanese: Penyihir
• Translator English - Vietnamese: phù thủy săn
• Translator English - Tamil: சூனிய வேட்டையாளராகச்
• Translator English - Marathi: डाग-शिकार
• Translator English - Turkish: cadı avı
• Translator English - Italian: caccia alle streghe
• Translator English - Polish: Polowanie na czarownice
• Translator English - Ukrainian: охота на відьом
• Translator English - Romanian: vrăjitoare de vânătoare
• Translator English - Greek: το κυνήγι των μαγισσών
• Translator English - Afrikaans: heks jag
• Translator English - Swedish: häxjakts
• Translator English - Norwegian: heksejakt

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «WITCH-HUNTING»

Discover the use of witch-hunting in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to witch-hunting and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A ...

Illuminates the history of witchcraft and witch-hunting in seventeenth-century New England.

David D. Hall, 2005

Malevolent Nurture: Witch-hunting and Maternal Power in ...

In Malevolent Nurture, Deborah Willis explores the dynamics of witchcraft accusation through legal documents, pamphlet literature, religious tracts, and the plays of Shakespeare.

Deborah Willis, 1995

The Malleus Maleficarum

Mostly a compilation of superstition and folklore, the book was taken very seriously at the time it was written in the 15th century and became a kind of spiritual law book used by judges to determine the guilt of the accused"--From ...

Heinrich Kramer, James Sprenger, 2007

Witch-hunting in Scotland: law, politics and religion

Witch-Hunting in Scotland presents a fresh perspective on the trial and execution of the hundreds of women and men prosecuted for the crime of witchcraft, an offence that involved the alleged practice of maleficent magic and the worship of ...

Brian P. Levack, 2008

Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: The Social ...

This book is an analysis of witchcraft and witch hunting as they appeared in southwestern Germany in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

H. C. Erik Midelfort, 1972

Witch Hunting and Witch Trials (RLE Witchcraft): The ...

This book must be considered an essential reference work for every student of witch lore.

C L'Estrange Ewen, 2013

The Scottish Witch-Hunt in Context

A collection of essays on Scottish witchcraft and witch-hunting, which covers the whole period of the Scottish witch-hunt, from the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth.

Julian Goodare, 2002

The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-hunting in the ...

A cultural history of witch-hunting from the ancient world through the McCarthy era traces the factors that contribute to outbreaks of cultural paranoia and how people were able to accept hysteria-based beliefs about unlikely supernatural ...

John Demos, 2008

Contemporary witch-hunting in Gusii, southwestern Kenya

This book describes a series of witch-killings that has been underway in Gusii, southwestern Kenya, since 1992.

Justus Mozart H'Achachi Ogembo, 2006

Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An Encyclopedia

Covering witch hunts from Germany to New England, this concise encyclopedia is a fascinating reference on the hunt to find and persecute those who practiced witchcraft.

William E. Burns, 2003

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «WITCH-HUNTING»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term witch-hunting is used in the context of the following news items.

New Delhi Letter: Witch-hunting used as tool to target women

Social activists and police officials, however, say “witch hunting” is often a ploy in rural areas to justify violence against women or, in some instances, target them ... «Irish Times, Aug 15»

Why India struggles to tackle 'witch-hunting'

The recent beheading of a woman highlights how common the practice of branding people as witches and killing them remains in parts of India. DW speaks to ... «Deutsche Welle, Jul 15»

Witch-hunting villagers behead woman in India

The incident in Assam is the latest in a series of killings related to witch hunting in India. Last week, a couple and their four children were hacked to death for ... «Deutsche Welle, Jul 15»

Nobody is witch-hunting Saraki, Ekweremadu – APC

to prosecute senators found to be culpable in the forgery of Standing Rules of the Red Chamber. The party's Publicity Secretary in Lagos State, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, ... «DailyPost Nigeria, Jul 15»

Witch-Hunting May Finally Be Ending in India

Here in America, we use the term “witch hunt” whenever we think a group of people has unfairly targeted by someone to carry out a social agenda or make an ... «Huffington Post, Jul 15»

Witch-hunting: Govt rapped for not implementing Act

JAIPUR: Rajasthan High Court on Monday pulled up the government over non-implementation of the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch Hunting Act 2015. «Times of India, Jul 15»

Mutharika appoints Voice Mhone as NGO Board CEO : CSOs warns …

Mutharika appoints Voice Mhone as NGO Board CEO : CSOs warns against witch-hunting. July 14, 2015 Alfred Chauwa -Nyasa Times Politics. «Nyasa Times, Jul 15»

Tribal woman gets award for crusade against witch-hunting in Assam

Birubala Rabha, a tribal woman known for her crusade against witch-craft and witch-hunting, was presented the 12th Upendra Nath Brahma Soldier of Humanity ... «The Indian Express, Jul 15»

Mbabazi spokesperson accuses government of witch-hunting him

The spokesperson of Amama Mbabazi's campaign team, Benjamin Alipanga, has claimed there is a sinister plot by state actors who are rankled by his role to ... «NTV Uganda, Jun 15»

PPP decries `witch-hunting'

The opposition PPP today decried what it said was a spate of `witch-hunting' embarked upon by the new APNU+AFC government. A statement by the PPP ... «Stabroek News, Jun 15»