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Rubicon   /rˈubɪkɔn/   Listen
proper noun
Rubicon  n.  (Anc. geog.) A small river which separated Italy from Cisalpine Gaul, the province alloted to Julius Caesar. Note: By leading an army across this river, contrary to the prohibition of the civil government at Rome, Caesar precipitated the civil war which resulted in the death of Pompey and the overthrow of the senate; hence, the phrase to pass the Rubicon or cross the Rubicon signifies to take the decisive step by which one is committed to a hazardous enterprise from which there is no retreat.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Rubicon" Quotes from Famous Books



... victim; and in the arms of a lover she secretly enjoys the solace which she cannot derive from her legal owner. Then, if she is detected, how the world holds up its ten thousand hands in pious horror!—Wives who have young husbands are eloquent in their censure; old women who have long passed the rubicon of love and feeling, denounce her a shameless hussey; while the old reprobate who calls himself her husband, says to his indignant and sympathizing friends—'I took her from a low station in life; I raised her to a position of wealth and rank, and ...
— City Crimes - or Life in New York and Boston • Greenhorn

... act of open resistance excited the rioters still more—they had passed the Rubicon, and were now ready for anything, and "to the jail! to the jail!" arose in wild yells, and the turbulent mass poured like a tumultuous sea around the building. They rushed against the doors, and with united ...
— The Great Riots of New York 1712 to 1873 • J.T. Headley

... 'back again to its proper owner, I suppose. Well, let it. We have no further need of it, for, like Caesar, we have now crossed the Rubicon. We are no longer convicts from a French prison, my friend, but shipwrecked sailors; you hear?'—with a sudden scintillation from his black eyes— 'shipwrecked sailors; and I will tell the story of the wreck. Luckily, I can depend on your discretion, ...
— Madame Midas • Fergus Hume

... the Rubicon" when he lifted the rifle and powder horn from the ground. Had he been checked previous to that he would have turned back to his couch, and made the pretense that what he did was the result of a delirium. But with the possession of his weapon came ...
— Camp-fire and Wigwam • Edward Sylvester Ellis

... passed the Rubicon With helm, and shield, and breast-plate on, Dashing his war-horse through the waters; The R*d*r would have built a barge, Or steamboat, at the city's charge, And passed it with ...
— Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII No. 1 January 1848 • Various


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