Achilles heel
noun/əˌkɪl.iːz ˈhiːl/UK
Etymology
From the Greek hero Achilles, whom according to legend his mother held by the heel when she dipped him in the River Styx, making him invulnerable everywhere except on his heel. He was later killed by an arrow wound to the heel. Although the legend is ancient, the phrase only entered English in the 19th century. It is used as a metaphor for vulnerability, as in the earliest citation, an essay by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
- derived from in the 19th century
- derived from hero Achilles
Definitions
A vulnerability in an otherwise strong situation.
- A good all-round golfer, playing out of bunkers is my Achilles heel.
- It might seem counter-intuitive, but getting right up in the Demoman's face is the Achillees heel to the power of his explosives.
The Achilles tendon, the tendo Achillis.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for Achilles heel. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA