Толковый словарь английского языка Oxford English Reference - pyrrhic

1. adj. (of a victory) won at too great a cost to be of use to the victor. Etymology: Pyrrhus of Epirus, who defeated the Romans at Asculum in 279 BC, but sustained heavy losses 2. n. & adj. --n. a metrical foot of two short or unaccented syllables. --adj. written in or based on pyrrhics. Etymology: L pyrrhichius f. Gk purrhikhios (pous) pyrrhic (foot)