To what does the term witch hunt refer

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witch hunt

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noun

(in historical use) the investigation, trial, and punishment of alleged practitioners of witchcraft.

an intensive inquiry, originally or purportedly to notice and expose dishonesty, subversion, or other wrongdoing, the scope and conclusions of which often include and bring impairment to innocent persons or their reputations through reliance on hearsay or circumstantial evidence.

verb (used with object) witch-chase

to subject field to a witch hunt:The defendant claimed he was being witch-hunted due to his political activism.

VIDEO FOR WITCH Hunt

Why Is "Witch Hunt" A Political Phrase?

The term witch hunt, recorded every bit such in the belatedly 1800s, took a turn in the early on 20th century. Here'south why.

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Origin of witch hunt

First recorded in 1885–xc for def. 1; in 1935–40 for def. 2; and in 1945–50 for def. 3; the gerund witch-hunting was first recorded in 1635–40

historical usage of witch hunt

The atrocities and fallacies of literal, historical witch hunts brand for an indelible metaphor to describe persecution of innocents by a torch- and pitchfork-wielding mob.
Historically, people were accused, tried, and punished for the practice of witchcraft in early modern Europe from the late 15th century through the mid-18th century. Many factors contributed to this dark affiliate in history, from lack of scientific knowledge, high bloodshed rates, and natural disasters to social forces including sexism, racism, and ageism.
To understand the figurative utilize of witch hunt expect to the nigh famous American case of a literal witch hunt, the Salem witch trials of 1692. Various tragedies, from untimely deaths to the loss of livestock, were blamed on "harmful magic." The showtime three defendant in Salem were an enslaved adult female, a homeless beggar, and a social outcast. As was mutual in witch trials, defendants confessed under duress and named confederates. The scope of the trial grew ever wider, with many innocents being convicted and sentenced to expiry.
The spread of accusations, the implicating of declared accomplices, and the lack of due process and proper prosecutorial rigor made witch chase an apt political and social metaphor in the modern era. From Senate subcommittee hearings on pro-German propaganda in the early 20th century to the Firm Un-American Activities Committee of McCarthyism, witch hunts are now evoked for political investigations characterized by paranoid hysteria, self-preservation, and cynical social machination.
The current use of the expression takes for granted the mod supposition that witchcraft was never a legitimate target of investigation or prosecution. The process of whatsoever historical witch hunt was therefore inherently flawed or decadent, and the target was necessarily innocent. This anachronistic agreement is the crux of the logical fallacy ofttimes encountered in modern rhetorical use, where framing an inquiry equally a witch hunt is a debate tactic used to assume the innocence of the defendant and telephone call into question the motivation and methods of accusers, without examining the substance of the accusation.

OTHER WORDS FROM witch hunt

witch hunter, noun witch-hunting, describing word, noun

Words nearby witch hunt

witchetty grub, witch grass, witch hazel, witch hazel family, witch hobble, witch hunt, witching, witching hr, witch moth, witch of Agnesi, witch's mark

Lexicon.com Unabridged Based on the Random Firm Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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Words related to witch hunt

How to utilise witch hunt in a sentence

• Now, they can chalk the whole affair upwards to a partisan witch chase and discredit it.

• Some of the threats are likely from Netanyahu's supporters who believe he is the victim of a political-legal witch hunt.

• Agnew complained in public that it was a witch chase, office of a liberal-media plot to destroy a leader who had dared to take on the political establishment.

• This is a big, large first to the end of what has been a witch hunt.

• The kid from next door drops past and Marvin talks to him about the stunts in his latest picture, Death Hunt.

• The Federal Duck Stamp Act raised the fee on stamps needed to chase waterfowl on federal land from $15 to $25.

• He once experimented with dressing as "Hilda the Wicked Witch" as a way to expand his business to Halloween.

• Jordanian intelligence played an important office in the hunt that eventually killed Zarqawi in Iraq in 2006.

• Breitbart forced her to right a small part of her story, but witch hunts like these will leave every victim cowering.

• Mrs. Jolly Robin had ofttimes wished—when she was trying to feed a apace-growing family—that she could hunt forp.

• When the whole hunt is hunting up, each single change is made between the whole hunt, and the next bell above information technology.

• With these x Hunts, the kickoff alter in each Peal is fabricated by hunting the whole Hunt up.

• This Peal (by the Rules aforesaid) may be Rang with any whole hunt, one-half hunt, and quarter hunt.

• The half hunt is alwayes ane of the two hindmost bells which makes every bob-change.

British Lexicon definitions for witch hunt

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noun

a rigorous entrada to round upwards or expose dissenters on the pretext of safeguarding the welfare of the public

Derived forms of witch-chase

witch-hunter, noun witch-hunting, noun, adjective

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

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