gordius

2 definitions found

gordius - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Gordius \Gor"di*us\, n. [NL. See Gordian, 1.] (Zool.)
     A genus of long, slender, nematoid worms, parasitic in
     insects until near maturity, when they leave the insect, and
     live in water, in which they deposit their eggs; -- called
     also hair eel, hairworm, and hair snake, from the
     absurd, but common and widely diffused, notion that they are
     metamorphosed horsehairs.
     [1913 Webster]

gordius - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Gordius
      n 1: legendary king of ancient Phrygia who was said to be
           responsible for the Gordian knot