Lexic.us

Definition of Sphinx

1. Noun. An inscrutable person who keeps his thoughts and intentions secret.

2. Noun. (Greek mythology) a riddling winged monster with a woman's head and breast on a lion's body; daughter of Typhon.

3. Noun. One of a number of large stone statues with the body of a lion and the head of a man that were built by the ancient Egyptians.

Definition of Sphinx

1. n. In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.

Definition of Sphinx

1. Proper noun. (usually with "''the''") An ancient, large statue in Egypt, with the face of a man and the body of a lion, lying near the Great Pyramids. ¹

2. Proper noun. (mythology) The demon of destruction and bad luck in Greek mythology. ¹

3. Noun. (mythology) A creature with the head of a human and the body of an animal (commonly a lion). ¹

4. Noun. A person who keeps his thoughts and intentions secret. ¹

5. Noun. (rare) A sphincter. ¹

6. Verb. To decorate with sphinxes ¹

7. Verb. To adopt the posture of the Sphinx ¹

8. Verb. To be inscrutable, often through silence ¹

9. Verb. To make one guess at the unknowable ¹

10. Verb. To befuddle ¹

11. Verb. For the feminine to co-opt, dominate, or devour the masculine, especially from a paranoid fear of this happening ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Sphinx

1. a monster in Egyptian mythology [n SPHINXES or SPHINGES]

Medical Definition of Sphinx

1. 1. In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion. "The awful ruins of the days of old . . . Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphinx." (Shelley) On Greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman. The most famous Grecian sphinx, that of Thebes in Boeotia, is said to have proposed a riddle to the Thebans, and killed those who were unable to guess it. The enigma was solved by oedipus, whereupon the sphinx slew herself. "Subtle as sphinx." 2. Hence: A person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy. 3. Any one of numerous species of large moths of the family Sphingidae; called also hawk moth. The larva is a stout naked caterpillar which, when at rest, often assumes a position suggesting the Egyptian sphinx, whence the name. 4. The Guinea, or sphinx, baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx). Sphinx baboon Same as Sphinx. Origin: L, from Gr. Sfigx, usually derived from sfiggein to bind tight or together, as if the Throttler. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Sphinx

sphingolipidoses sphingolipidosis sphingolipids sphingolipodystrophy sphingomyelin sphingomyelin deacylase sphingomyelin lipidosis sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase sphingomyelinase sphingomyelinases

sphingomyelins sphingosine sphingosine CoA-independent transacetylase sphingosine N-methyltransferase sphingosines sphinx (current term) sphinx moth sphinxes sphinxlike sphragide

sphragides sphragistics sphrigosis sphugmicks sphygm- sphygmic sphygmic interval sphygmics sphygmo- sphygmo-oscillometer

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