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Hydra
- 7 dictionary resultshy⋅dra
[hahy-druh]
–noun, plural -dras, -drae [-dree]
for 1–3, genitive -drae [-dree]
for 4.
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. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Hydra
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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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].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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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
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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| hydra (hī'drə) Pronunciation Key
Plural hydras or hydrae (hī'drē) See under hydroid. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.


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