名詞 holocaust:

1. an act of great destruction and loss of life
2. the Nazi program of exterminating Jews under Hitler
   同義詞：final solution

1. It is unthinkable that we shall allow a nuclear holocaust to occur.
   我們若竟讓核武器大屠殺的慘劇發(fā)生，簡直是匪夷所思。
2. It is unthinkable that we should allow a nuclear holocaust to occur.
   我們若竟讓核武器大屠殺的慘劇發(fā)生，簡直是匪夷所思。

hol.o.caust

n.（名詞）
Great or total destruction, especially by fire.
浩劫：尤指火災造成的巨大和完全的毀壞

Widespread destruction.
大面積的毀滅
A great disaster.
大災難

Holocaust The genocide of European Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II:
Holocaust 大屠殺：二戰(zhàn)中納粹對歐洲的猶太人和其他民族實行的種族滅絕：
例句：
.Israel emerged from the Holocaust and is defined in relation to that catastrophe.(Emanuel Litvinoff)
.以色列是在大屠殺中出現(xiàn)并與那次災難有關.(伊曼紐爾·利特溫諾弗)

A massive slaughter:
大屠殺：
例句：
.an important document in the so-far sketchy annals of the Cambodian holocaust.(Rod Nordland)
.迄今為止不完全的編年史中關于柬埔寨屠殺的重要文件.(羅德·諾爾蘭)

A sacrificial offering that is consumed entirely by flames.
燔祭：用火燒祭的供品

來源：
Middle English [burnt offering]
中古英語 [焚燒的祭品]
from Old French holocauste
源自 古法語 holocauste
from Latin holocaustum
源自 拉丁語 holocaustum
from Greek holokauston [from neuter of] holokaustos [burnt whole]
源自 希臘語 holokauston [] 源自holokaustos的中性詞 [全部焚燒]
holo- [holo-]
holo- [前綴，表.完全，整個.]
kaustos [burnt] from kaiein [to burn]
kaustos [被燒的] 源自 kaiein [燒]

【引伸】
hol.ocaus.tal 或
hol.ocaus.tic
adj.（形容詞）
When referring to the massive destruction of human beings by other human beings,holocaust has a secure place in the language. Fully 99 percent of the Usage Panel accepts the use ofholocaust in the phrase nuclear holocaust. Sixty percent accepts the sentenceAs many as two million people may have died in the holocaust that followed the Khmer Rouge takeover in Cambodia. But because of its associations with genocide,extended applications ofholocaust may not always be received with equanimity. When the word is used to refer to death brought about by natural causes,the percentage of the Panel`s acceptance drops sharply.Only 3 percent of the Panel accepts the sentence
holocaust 在指人類之間大規(guī)模的殺害時用法穩(wěn)定。 百分之九十九的用法專題使用小組成員接受holocaust 在 nuclear holocaust 中的用法。 百分之六十的成員接受在紅色高棉組織接管柬埔寨之后，高達兩百萬的民眾死于那場大屠殺 。 但由于它和種族滅絕有一定聯(lián)系，人們并不總能很平靜地接受holocaust 的引申用法。 當用這個詞表示由于自然災害引起的死亡時，用法小組接受的百分比明顯下降。只有百分之三十一的成員同意這樣的用法：
例句：
In East Africa five years of drought have brought about a holocaust in which millions have died.
東非地區(qū)五年的干旱引起上百萬人的死亡。

Just percent approved the use ofholocaust to summarize the effects of the AIDS epidemic. This suggests that other figurative usagessuch asthe huge losses in the Savings and Loan holocaust may be viewed as overblown or in poor taste.
只有百分之十一的成員同意用holocaust 來表示愛滋病流行帶來的災難。 這表明其他修辭性用法，如在在存款和貸款災難中的巨大損失 中可能會被認為夸張或沒品味