sword of Damocles

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- - swizzle
  - swizzle stick
  - swollen
  - swoon
  - swoony
  - swoop
  - swoosh
  - swop
  - sword
  - sword knot
  - sword of Damocles
  - sword of state
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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
sword of Damocles /ˈdaməkliːz/

▶noun used to refer to a very precarious situation.

– origin with ref. to Damocles, a courtier who praised the happiness of the Greek ruler Dionysius I so much that the king made him feast sitting under a sword suspended by a single hair to show him how precarious this happiness was.

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sword of Damocles