3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  2.  [pl.  {Medusae}.]  (Zo["o]l.)  Any  free  swimming  acaleph;  a 
  jellyfish. 
 
  Note:  The  larger  medus[ae]  belong  to  the  Discophora,  and  are 
  sometimes  called  {covered-eyed  medus[ae]};  others 
  known  as  {naked-eyed  medus[ae]},  belong  to  the 
  Hydroidea,  and  are  usually  developed  by  budding  from 
  hidroids  See  {Discophora},  {Hydroidea},  and 
  {Hydromedusa}. 
 
  {Medusa  bud}  (Zo["o]l.),  one  of  the  buds  of  a  hydroid, 
  destined  to  develop  into  a  gonophore  or  medusa.  See 
  {Athecata},  and  {Gonotheca}. 
 
  {Medusa's  head}. 
  a  (Zo["o]l.)  An  astrophyton. 
  b  (Astron.)  A  cluster  of  stars  in  the  constellation 
  Perseus.  It  contains  the  bright  star  Algol. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  Medusa 
  n  1:  (Greek  mythology)  a  woman  transformed  into  a  Gorgon  by 
  Athena;  she  was  slain  by  Perseus  [syn:  {Medusa}] 
  2:  any  of  numerous  usually  marine  and  free-swimming 
  coelenterates  that  constitute  the  sexually  reproductive 
  forms  of  hydrozoans  and  scyphozoans  [syn:  {jellyfish},  {medusan}] 
  3:  one  of  two  forms  that  coelenterates  take:  is  the 
  free-swimming  sexual  stage  in  the  life  cycle  of  a 
  coelenterate  and  has  a  gelatinous  umbrella-shaped  body  and 
  tentacles 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Medusa,  NY 
  Zip  code(s):  12120 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words