Columbine
See also: columbine
English
Etymology 1
From columbine.
Proper noun
Columbine
- A census-designated place in Arapahoe County and Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, infamous for the school shooting that happened there in 1999.
- The sweetheart of Harlequin in old pantomimes.
Etymology 2
From the school shooting that occurred at Columbine High School in 1999.
Noun
Columbine (plural Columbines)
- An incident in which someone shoots multiple people at a school.
- 2005, Nancy E. Dowd, Dorothy G. Singer, Robin Fretwell Wilson, Handbook of Children, Culture, and Violence, page 333:
- Research indicates that many children are afraid of “a Columbine” occurring in their school, or are concerned about other forms of school violence (Aronson, 2000; Garbarino & deLara, 2002; Gaughan et al., 2001; National Association of Attorneys General, 2000).
- 2011, C.M. Dabbah, The House of Shades, page v:
- Granted, I'm not exactly grabbing an ax and going to town or pulling a “Columbine” but the idea of engaging in such activities has crossed my twisted little mind and plagued my black little heart in dreams only.
- 2012, John Patton O'Dell, The Blue Wore Through: Collected Works of John Patton O'dell:
- I remember the second song that played was “Run to the Hills.” I thought my head was going to explode, thinking we were ten minutes away from a Columbine.
- 2013, Annette Fuentes, Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse:
- You've got people in your schools right now plotting a Columbine.
- 2014, Richard Ford, Let Me Be Frank With You: A Frank Bascombe Book:
- The suburbs are supposedly where nothing happens, like Auden said about what poetry doesn't do; an overinhabited faux terrain dozing in inertia, occasionally disrupted by “a Columbine” or “an Oklahoma City” or a hurricane to remind us what's really real.
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