Lexic.us

Definition of Medusa

1. Noun. (Greek mythology) a woman transformed into a Gorgon by Athena; she was slain by Perseus.

2. Noun. 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.

Definition of Medusa

1. n. The Gorgon; or one of the Gorgons whose hair was changed into serpents, after which all who looked upon her were turned into stone.

Definition of Medusa

1. Proper noun. (Greek mythology): The only mortal of the three gorgon sisters. She is killed by Perseus. ¹

2. Noun. (zoology) Special form that cnidarians may turn into. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Medusa

1. a jellyfish [n -SAE or -SAS] : MEDUSAL [adj] - See also: jellyfish

Medical Definition of Medusa

1. 1. The Gorgon; or one of the Gorgons whose hair was changed into serpents, after which all who looked upon her were turned into stone. Any free swimming acaleph; a jellyfish. 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 hidroids. See Discophora, Hydroidea, and Hydromedusa. Medusa bud A cluster of stars in the constellation Perseus. It contains the bright star Algol. Origin: L, fr. Gr. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Medusa

medullate medullated medullated nerve fiber medullated nerve fibre medullation medullectomy medullin medullization medullo- medulloarthritis

medulloblastoma medullocell medulloepithelioma medullomyoblastoma medullæ medusa medusa's head medusae medusafish medusafishes

medusahead medusal medusan medusans medusas medusian medusians medusiform medusoid medusoids

Literary usage of Medusa

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Popular Science Monthly by Harry Houdini Collection (Library of Congress) (1888)
"asexual multiplication by buds, and the sign < sexual rep tion by fertilized eggs : ( Feeding hydra, Í Medusa x Medus» Feeding hydra x -j ..."

2. College zoology by Robert William Hegner (1918)
"The polyp and medusa stages are not equally important in all HYDROZOA ; fqr example, Hydra has no medusa stage and ..."

3. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1890)
"That which is bestowed or rendered in consideration of desert, good or bad (but usually the former); reward; recompense; award. medusa-bud ..."

4. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1862)
"If, for example, a Medusa weighing some three or four pounds be laid in the sun, ... Words cannot express the exceeding beauty and grace of the Medusa, ..."

5. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science edited by Biologists Limited, The Company of. (1880)
"AT the meeting of the Royal Society on June 17th, and in ' Nature' of that date, I described in the following terms a remarkable Medusa which I had received ..."

6. Medusae of the World by Alfred Goldsborough Mayer (1910)
"For details of the general characters of the European medusa, ... Forbes and Goodsir, 1853, describe this medusa from the western coast of Scotland, ..."

7. The Youth's Companion, Or, An Historical Dictionary: Consisting of Articles by Ezra Sampson (1816)
"Medusa, the second sister (as the old poets tell us) was at first very beautiful, but terrible to her enemies. Minerva turned her hair into snakes ..."

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