Massacre of the Innocents

English Proper noun Massacre of the Innocents 1 en Christianity The incident in the nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew (2:16–18) in which Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders the execution of all male children two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem. en UK politics humorous The abandonment of potentially useful measures at the end of a session in the House of Commons, since there is no time to pass them. Translations Christianity: incident in the nativity narrative Dutch: nl Kindermoord van Bethlehem m French: fr massacre des Innocents m German: de Kindermord in Bethlehem m, de Bethlehemitischer Kindermord m Italian: it strage degli innocenti f Portuguese: pt Massacre dos Inocentes m Spanish: es matanza de los Inocentes f See also Childermas References en 1873 John Camden Hotten The Slang Dictionary