Cadmean victory

English

Etymology

Probably referring to the battle in which the soldiers who sprang from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus slew each other.

Noun

Cadmean victory (plural Cadmean victories)

1. A victory that damages the victors as much as the vanquished.

See also

• Pyrrhic victory

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “Cadmean victory”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)