moloch

noun

1. a deity whose worship was marked by the propitiatory sacrifice of children by their own parents. II Kings 23:10; Jer. 32:35.
2. anything conceived of as requiring appalling sacrifice: the Moloch of war.
3. (lowercase) a spiny agamid lizard, Moloch horridus, of Australian deserts, that resembles the horned lizard.

noun

1. a spiny Australian desert-living lizard, Moloch horridus, that feeds on ants: family Agamidae (agamas)Also called: mountain devil, spiny lizard

noun

1. Old Testament a Semitic deity to whom parents sacrificed their children

Canaanite god said to have been propitiated by sacrificing children (Lev. xviii:21), from Latin Moloch, from Greek Molokh, from Hebrew molekh, from melekh “king,” altered by the Jews with the vowel points from basheth “shame” to express their horror of the worship. A Canaanite idol who demanded the sacrifice of first-born children. The Old Testament prophets railed against the worship of Moloch by the Israelites.