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Hydra

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hy⋅dra

[hahy-druh]

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–noun, plural -dras, -drae [-dree]

for 1–3, genitive -drae [-dree]

for 4.

1.	(often initial capital letter) Classical Mythology. a water or marsh serpent with nine heads, each of which, if cut off, grew back as two; Hercules killed this serpent by cauterizing the necks as he cut off the heads.

2.	any freshwater polyp of the genus Hydra and related genera, having a cylindrical body with a ring of tentacles surrounding the mouth, and usually living attached to rocks, plants, etc., but also capable of detaching and floating in the water.

3.	a persistent or many-sided problem that presents new obstacles as soon as one aspect is solved.

4.	(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the Sea Serpent, a large southern constellation extending through 90° of the sky, being the longest of all constellations.

Origin:
1325–75; < L < Gk hýdrā water serpent (r. ME ydre < MF < L); see otter

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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hy·dra (hī'drə)

n. pl. hy·dras or hy·drae (-drē)
Any of several small freshwater polyps of the genus Hydra and related genera, having a naked cylindrical body and an oral opening surrounded by tentacles.

[New Latin Hydra, genus name, from Latin Hydra, Hydra; see Hydra.]

Hy·dra (hī'drə)

Greek Mythology The many-headed monster that was slain by Hercules.
A constellation in the equatorial region of the southern sky near Cancer, Libra, and Centaurus. Also called Snake².
A persistent or multifaceted problem that cannot be eradicated by a single effort.

[Middle English Idra, from Latin Hydra, from Greek Hudrā, Hydra, a water serpent; see wed-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Hydra

Hy"dra\, n.; pl. E. Hydras, L. Hydr[ae]. [L. hydra, Gr. "y`dra; akin to "y`dwr water. See Otter the animal, Water.]

1. (Class. Myth.) A serpent or monster in the lake or marsh of Lerna, in the Peloponnesus, represented as having many heads, one of which, when cut off, was immediately succeeded by two others, unless the wound was cauterized. It was slain by Hercules. Hence, a terrible monster.

Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire. --Milton.

2. Hence: A multifarious evil, or an evil having many sources; not to be overcome by a single effort.

3. (Zo["o]l.) Any small fresh-water hydroid of the genus Hydra, usually found attached to sticks, stones, etc., by a basal sucker.

Note: The body is a simple tube, having a mouth at one extremity, surrounded by a circle of tentacles with which it captures its prey. Young hydras bud out from the sides of the older ones, but soon become detached and are then like their parent. Hydras are remarkable for their power of repairing injuries; for if the body be divided in pieces, each piece will grow into a complete hydra, to which fact the name alludes. The zooids or hydranths of marine hydroids are sometimes called hydras.

4. (Astron.) A southern constellation of great length lying southerly from Cancer, Leo, and Virgo.

hydra

1835, genus name of a freshwater polyp, from Gk. Hydra, many-headed Lernaean water serpent slain by Hercules (this sense is attested in Eng. from c.1374), from hydor (gen. hydatos) "water" (see water (n.1)); related to Skt. udrah "aquatic animal" and O.E. ottur "otter." Used figuratively for "any multiplicity of evils" [Johnson].

Main Entry: hy·dra
Pronunciation: 'hI-dr&
Function: noun
: any of numerous small tubular freshwater hydrozoan polyps (Hydra and relatedgenera) having at one end a mouth surrounded by tentacles

hydra (hī'drə) Pronunciation Key
Plural hydras or hydrae (hī'drē)
See under hydroid.

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