any lizard of the genus Moloch god of the Ammonites and Phoenicians to whom parents sacrificed their children a tyrannical power to be propitiated by human subservience or sacrifice; "the great Moloch of war"; "duty has become the Moloch of modern life"- Norman Douglas
The horns on the head and numerous spines on the body give it a most formidable appearance
In the Old Testament of the Bible, the supreme deity of Semitic heathenism whom the men of Judah once appeased by the sacrifice of their dearest possession, their own children Hence, any evil and vicious doctrine which requires the sacrifice of human lives
a tyrannical power to be propitiated by human subservience or sacrifice; "the great Moloch of war"; "duty has become the Moloch of modern life"- Norman Douglas
Any influence which demands from us the sacrifice of what we hold most dear Thus, war is a Moloch, king mob is a Moloch, the guillotine was the Moloch of the French Revolution, etc The allusion is to the god of the Ammonites, to whom children were made to pass through the fire in sacrifice Milton says he was worshipped in Rabba, in Argob, and Basan, to the stream of utmost Arnon (Paradise Lost, book i 392-398 )