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  1. lamia love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Greek Mythology A monster represented as a serpent with the head and breasts of a woman that ate children and sucked the blood from men.
  2. n. A female vampire.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. In fir. and Roman mythology, an enticing witch, who charmed children and youths for the purpose of feeding on their blood and flesh, like the later vampire; a female demon; hence, in general, a destroying witch or hag.
  2. n. In zoology:
  3. n. A Fabrician (1775) genus of longicorn beetles, now the type of family Lamiidæ. L. ædilis is a species the male of which has antenæ) four times as long as the body.
  4. n. A genus of sharks: same as Lamna.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Greek mythology A monster with the head and breasts of a woman and the lower half of a serpent, which ate children and sucked the blood from men.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Class. Myth.) A monster capable of assuming a woman's form, who was said to devour human beings or suck their blood; a vampire; a sorceress; a witch.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. (folklore) a corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living

Etymologies

  1. Middle English, from Latin, from Greek. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. vampire
  1. sorceress
  1. witch

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. evil spirit

same context (5)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. incubi
  1. merfolk
  1. lycan
  1. hippocampus
  1. wereleopard

rhymes (2)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Mesopotamia
  1. macadamia

reverse dictionary (3)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. cub-shark
  1. lamiidæ
  1. ambulator

tags (5)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. death
  1. fey
  1. demon
  1. wotd
  1. word-of-the-day

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Lists

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Comments

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  • EditorMark A definition that only existed in lexicographer Kory Stamper's mind for several seconds after receiving an e-mail about the word: "Mythical foolishness of no value whatsoever to enrich a person's thinking."
    May 2, 2013

  • chained_bear "I could feel the faintly pebbled texture of the rash upon his skin, and the thought came unbidden of the lamia. A creature smooth and cool to the touch, a shape-shifter, passionately venomous, its nature infectious. A swift bite and the snake's poison spreading, slowing his heart, chilling his warm blood; I could imagine tiny scales rising under his skin in the dark."
    —Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross (NY: Bantam Dell, 2001), 1176–1177 Jan 29, 2010

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‘lamia’ has been looked up 2553 times, loved by 6 people, added to 37 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 7.