1. An act of mass destruction and loss of life (especially in war or by fire)
   "a nuclear holocaust"
    
2. A religious animal sacrifice that is completely consumed by fire
   "Ancient texts described holocausts as offerings to the gods"

1. The mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime from 1941 until 1945
   "The Holocaust was one of history's greatest atrocities";
   - final solution

Derived forms: holocausts

Type of: destruction, devastation, genocide, race murder, racial extermination

Encyclopedia: Holocaust