Meaning of alastor | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Any of several characters in Greek mythology, variously spirit, human, a horse of the underworld.
   Greek
2. A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.
3. An avenging spirit or deity, variously associated with the Erinyes, Nemesis, and more.
4. In more recent ages, a term of rebuke for a pestilent rascal.
5. A genus of hunting wasp

Examples

“Dog, leave⟳ thy snarling, or I'll cut⟳ thy tongue out ! Thou unlick'd bear⟳, dar'st thou yet stand⟳ my fury, My generous rage? yet? By the sulphureous damps That feed⟳ the hungry and incessant darkness, Which curls around the grim Alastor's back, Mutter again, and with one powerful word, I'll call⟳ an host⟳ up from the Stygian lakes, Shall waft thee to the Acherontick fens; Where, choak'd with mists as black as thy impostures,”

“1852 James Orton: "Excelsior" or "The Realms of Poesie by Alastor". Private publication printed by William Pickering, London James Orton's choice of "Alastor" seems to have⟳ been an ironic pen name⟳, suggesting a presumptuous voice.”

“Alastor eriurgus. . . A very common "mason wasp" in the neighbourhood of Sydney; very plentiful in February and March⟳. They are subject to the attacks of cuckoo wasps and other parasitic Hymenoptera; in one nest I found a small Bracon larva beside the young Alastor, which it soon devoured, and then spun an elongate white silken cocoon, out of which it emerged ten days after; . . . I have⟳ bred out several specimens. These inquilines are placed in the Alastor nest while the builders are out hunting for caterpillars, their active mothers being on the watch⟳ to crawl in and deposit⟳ the eggs in the owner's absence.”

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