medusa

4 definitions found

medusa - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Medusa \Me*du"sa\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?.]
     1. (Class. Myth.) 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]
  
     2. [pl. Medusae.] (Zool.) Any free swimming acaleph; a
        jellyfish.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The larger medusae belong to the Discophora, and are
           sometimes called covered-eyed medusae; others, known
           as naked-eyed medusae, belong to the Hydroidea, and
           are usually developed by budding from hydroids. See
           Discophora, Hydroidea, and Hydromedusa.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Medusa bud (Zool.), one of the buds of a hydroid, destined
        to develop into a gonophore or medusa. See Athecata, and
        Gonotheca.
  
     Medusa's head.
        (a) (Zool.) An astrophyton.
        (b) (Astron.) A cluster of stars in the constellation
            Perseus. It contains the bright star Algol.
            [1913 Webster]

medusa - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Medusa
      n 1: (Greek mythology) a woman transformed into a Gorgon by
           Athena; she was slain by Perseus
      2: one of two forms that coelenterates take: it is the free-
         swimming sexual phase in the life cycle of a coelenterate; in
         this phase it has a gelatinous umbrella-shaped body and
         tentacles [syn: medusa, medusoid, medusan]

medusa - U.S. Gazetteer (1990) :

  Medusa, NY
    Zip code(s): 12120

medusa - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  51 Moby Thesaurus words for "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