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Superman
Definitions
- 1 A fictional comic-book superhero with superhuman strength and speed, X-ray vision, and the ability to fly. countable, uncountable
"[…] hoping against hope that she, with something like Superman's X-ray vision, might see through the photograph and behind it to the truth about Harris's architecture."
- 1 An imagined superior type of human being representing a new stage of human development; an übermensch, an overman.
"Nietzsche wrote of the coming of the superman."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of superman: a man of extraordinary or seemingly superhuman powers. alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 3 street name for lysergic acid diethylamide wordnet
- 4 A man of extraordinary or seemingly superhuman powers.
"[page 113] The idea of superman is as old as the world. Through all the centuries, through hundreds of centuries of its history, humanity has lived with the idea of superman. Sayings and legends of all ancient peoples are full of images of a superman. Heroes of myths, Titans, demi-gods, Prometheus, who brought fire from heaven; prophets, messiahs and saints of all religions; heroes of fairy tales and epic songs, knights who rescue captive princesses, awake sleeping beauties, vanquish dragons, and fight giants and ogres—all these are images of a superman. [...] [page 114] People dreamt of, or remembered times long past when their life was governed by supermen, who struggled against evil, upheld justice and acted as mediators between men and the Deity, governing them according to the will of the Deity, giving them laws, bringing them commandments."
- 5 A stunt in which the rider releases both hands from the handlebars in mid-air. countable, uncountable
"[page 77] Riders should adapt their own style when doing Supermans, and shouldn't get hung up trying to do it the same way that someone else does. […] [page 79] An extension of the Superman is a trick called the Superman Seat Grab. Even more impressive than the Superman itself, this trick was again brought over from the BMX world, […] During the Superman Seat Grab, […] the rider lets go of the left side of the bars and grabs either a cutout in the rear number plate or a grab handle that has been previously installed. With his body moved toward the back of the bike, the rider is able to extend the bike way out in front of himself, almost floating behind the machine. […] Whichever way they are done, the Superman and its variations are some of the most impressive and difficult tricks out there."
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- 6 a person with great powers and abilities wordnet
- 7 An exercise in which one lies prone and lifts one's arms and legs, with only the abdomen touching the ground. countable, uncountable
- 8 A flavor of ice cream that is a mixture of blue moon ice cream, and other ice cream flavors that are colored red and yellow. uncountable
Etymology
A calque of German Übermensch; super- + man. The German word was introduced by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) in his work Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1883), and rendered in English as superman by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) in the play Man and Superman (1903) and by Thomas Common (1850–1919) in his 1909 translation of Nietzsche’s work. Some scholars regard this word as not properly conveying the meaning of Übermensch, and prefer to use the German word or overman. The “person of extraordinary powers” sense was reinforced by the DC Comics’ character Superman, who first appeared in Action Comics #1 dated June 1938.
From super- + man. The character, created by Jerry Siegel (1914–1996) and Joe Shuster (1914–1992), first appeared in DC Comics’ Action Comics #1 dated June 1938. The ice-cream flavor is named in reference to the red, yellow and blue of the superhero's costume.
From super- + man. The character, created by Jerry Siegel (1914–1996) and Joe Shuster (1914–1992), first appeared in DC Comics’ Action Comics #1 dated June 1938. The ice-cream flavor is named in reference to the red, yellow and blue of the superhero's costume.
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