Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Medusa"
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) 1.7 (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
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