A powerful, hostile guard.[From Latin, from Greek Kerberos.]
Cerberus (also Kerberos) was the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades, the infernal region in classical mythology. Ancient Greeks and Romans used to put a slice of cake in the hands of their dead to help pacify Cerberus on the way. This custom gave rise to the idiom "to give a sop to cerberus" meaning to give a gift to quiet a troublesome person.
Cancerbero (from Spanish can: dog) is one of the Spanish terms for a goalkeeper in fútbol (football). Kerberos is the name given to an authentication protocol for computer networks.
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=cerberus
Cerberus pictures: http://images.google.com/images?q=cerberus
"Making their task even more difficult has been a sentinel at the entrance to this political inferno named Paul Christensen, a Cerberus if ever there was one."
Jon Ralston; County's Refusal to Bid Insurance Contract Sparks Nasty Flap; Las Vegas Review-Journal; Apr 25, 1991.
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