Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The tentacled, usually bell-shaped, free-swimming sexual stage in the life cycle of a coelenterate, such as a jellyfish.
Wiktionary
- n. zoology Special form that cnidarians may turn into.
Etymologies
- Latin Medūsa, Medusa (from the Medusa's snaky locks); see Medusa. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The medusa is a genus of molusca; and I think M. le Seur told me he reckons forty-three or forty-four species of that genus.”
A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of America
“The object of this curious arrangement is to enable the whale to catch the little shrimps and small sea-blubbers, called "medusa;", on which it feeds.”
“Its hair was full of monsters bound in chains and bent with iron; a medusa for the 1890s.”
365 tomorrows » Savile Row Steel : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day
“The near perfection of Roman Polanski's Chinatown starts with Diener/Hauser/Bates's haunting art nouveau poster for the film: an emblematic Hokusai wave breaks against Jack Nicholson's silhouette as the smoke from his cigarette floats up to merge with Faye Dunaway's medusa-like hair.”
“Her face was saturated with tears and snot and her crazy medusa hair made her look like an escaped mental patient.”
'America's Next Top Model' recap: And the winner is... | EW.com
“The tropes of myth, legend and fairy tale build themselves into my work almost without my thinking about it, and I put that down to a lifetime of loving those stories, which have so much wisdom in them. on 16 Apr 2008 at 8: 22 am Riley medusa on 16 Apr 2008 at 8: 42 am Jeff Wetherington”
Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » Once upon a time…(and win a free book!)
“Oh, & the medusa spiders; plenty of them, & also presumably a Smokey apparition.”
“Maybe people werent as beautiful as back during the Prettytime, but parties were a lot more interesting: serious surge-monkeys with snake fingers and medusa hair; smart-matter clothes that rippled like flags in a breeze; safety fireworks skittering along the floor, dodging feet and sizzling incense as they passed.”
“Meadows dominate above 3,800 m and form the only vegetation above 4,000 m along with high-alpine species such as Saussurea medusa.”
“From 4,200 m to 4,800 m, vegetation consists of high-alpine species e.g: Saussurea medusa, Rhodiola spp.,”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘medusa’.
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MYTH - spooky creatures
takes the form of a, demon, teeth of iron, unicorn, forest spirit, magical eel, savage humanoid, one-horned animal, creature, headless humanoid, disease-bringing ..., rainbow-feathered... and 607 more...
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songbirds
Names of girls in song titles. Not in the lyrics, just in the titles.
Just the name on the list, then the full title with any identifying notes in the comments, please.
Can be the same ...marianne, evie, lady d'arbanville, peggy sue, suzanne, dianne, boni maroni, miss molly, lola, mony, sadie, rita and 207 more...
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Girls I wouldn't go out with
Nomen omen
chastity, faith, prudence, constance, virginia, rythm belcher, nutcracker, goldie lock, medusa, circe, delilah, charybdis and 47 more...
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ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
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reginaterra's Words
purl, blow, squish, andean, generality, adaptation, lush, pack, filter, acquiesce, abstraction, sweet and 508 more...
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Junk
walrus, fascination, broadway, fickle, downturn, bridge, gargle, rotunda, mesh, fab, shortlife, strumming and 304 more...
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Ships of Fame
Famous ship names that I've heard of and/or like. Includes airships. See also the list Ships, if you want to.
bonhomme richard, serapis, monitor, virginia, florizel, aurora, stephano, golden hind, santa maria, pinta, nina, beagle and 119 more...
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Fictional beasties
elf, gnome, dwarf, sprite, troll, fairy, nymph, imp, brownie, sasquatch, yeti, wookiee and 574 more...
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words that trip off the tongue
ideology, phallocentric, parapraxis, gelid, illusion, tangible, tangibility, crux, medusa, noir, chloroform, chap and 98 more...
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Unusual and Random Words
My Favourite Kind
quagmire, soliloquy, aardvark, topaz, ardent, exquisite, pyromania, pyre, extravagant, obscure, quetzal, quibble and 199 more...
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the gods must be crazy!
quetzalcoatl, baron-samedi, loa, orichas, arianrhod, aine, amaethon, annwn, arnemetia, balor, badbh, bean nighe and 1061 more...
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librarygoblin's words
crystal, ghost, mist, snow, labyrinth, citadel, tomb, mystery, arcane, conundrum, echo, dynamo and 389 more...
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Un zorro en España
intellectually ba..., elevator art, bulevar de los su..., vacas locas, fiebre del sábado..., las descalzas reales, discalced carmelites, reloj despertador, ratón, paseo por la ciudad, comí la placenta ..., calle valverde and 142 more...
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Ships
All of which are mentioned in O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels, someplace or other. Most are British navy ships, some are French navy, and others aren't either one.
See also the list Sh...franklin, surprise, agamemnon, vanguard, truelove, minerva, diane, victory, sophie, cacafuego, euryalus, alastor and 382 more...
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(Medical) Marijuana Strains
Names of various "medicinal" Cannabis strains, harvested from various sources.
grape ape, grape wreck, trainwreck, black domina, sweet wreck, cal-p, jack herer, purple princess, northern lights #5, amnesia haze, c5 haze, cambodian haze and 685 more...
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an anatomy of piercing
more interesting title to come
earlobe, tragus, snug, daith, rook, conch, helix, orbital, labret, septum, pinna, auricle and 9 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for medusa.
sionnach jellyfish, en castellano. Mar 18, 2009
chained_bear "The Wake of the Medusa" is a song by the Pogues. I think they're singing about the famous ship Medusa, but seeing as the ship was named after the woman, I figured it counts as a songbird. Snake-like hair notwithstanding. Feb 10, 2008