Waterloo

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle Dutch, composed of water (“water”) +‎ loo (“sacred wood, forest”). More at water, lea.

Proper noun

Waterloo

1. The name of any of several villages, towns, and cities around the world.
2. A battle fought at Waterloo, Belgium on June 18, 1815, resulting in the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. Also, Battle of Waterloo.

Noun

Waterloo (plural Waterloos)

1. A notable and decisive defeat for an individual; often in the phrase meet one's Waterloo.

References

• 1903: O. Henry, Hygeia at the Solito

  He flung his dime at a newsboy, got his Express, propped his back against the truck, and was at once rapt in the account of his Waterloo, as expanded by the ingenious press.

• 2003: Frank Mackey, Steamboat Connections: Montreal to Upper Canada, 1816–1843

  Surprisingly, Greenfield did not meet his Waterloo in this showdown with his competitors.

• 2003: Craig B Stanford, Upright: The Evolutionary Key to Becoming Human

  The skull ended up as Dubois' personal Waterloo. His work received nothing but rejection and derision throughout the next decade, and the bones became dark secrets for much of the early twentieth century, locked away in Dubois' home, unavailable for study by other scholars.