medusa

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: me=du=sa

CIDE DICTIONARY

medusa, n. [L., fr. Gr. .].

•  The Gorgon; or one of the Gorgons whose hair was changed into serpents, after which all who looked upon her were turned into stone.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any free swimming acaleph; a jellyfish.  [1913 Webster]

  " The larger medusæ belong to the Discophora, and are sometimes called covered-eyed medusæ; others, known as naked-eyed medusæ, belong to the Hydroidea, and are usually developed by budding from hydroids. See Discophora, Hydroidea, and Hydromedusa."  [1913 Webster]

Medusa bud (Zoöl.), one of the buds of a hydroid, destined to develop into a gonophore or medusa. See Athecata, and Gonotheca. -- Medusa's head. (a) (Zoöl.) An astrophyton. (b) (Astron.) A cluster of stars in the constellation Perseus. It contains the bright star Algol.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

medusa, n. (pl. medusae or medusas)
1 a jellyfish.
2 a free-swimming form of any coelenterate, having tentacles round the edge of a usu. umbrella-shaped jelly-like body, e.g. a jellyfish.

Derivative

medusan adj.

Etymology

L f. Gk Medousa, name of a Gorgon with snakes instead of hair

THESAURUS

medusa

Argus, Briareus, Cerberus, Charybdis, Circe, Cyclops, Echidna, Euryale, Gorgon, Harpy, Hydra, Loch Ness monster, Medea, Minotaur, Pegasus, Python, Scylla, Sphinx, Stheno, Talos, Typhon, bewitcher, centaur, charmer, chimera, cockatrice, dragon, drake, enchanter, enchantress, griffin, hippocampus, mermaid, merman, nixie, ogre, ogress, roc, salamander, satyr, sea horse, sea serpent, siren, spellbinder, troll, unicorn, vampire, werewolf, windigo, xiphopagus, zombie