hydra
/ˈhaɪ̯dɹə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.31 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
name
A spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a serpent. It lies just south of the zodiac and contains the star Alphard.
name
One of Pluto's moons.
name
One of the Saronic Islands in the Aegean Sea.
Example Sentences
- "Because the statute is so vaguely worded, award decisions are habitually based on case law, the growing mountain of which is a hydra of rulings that point in so many directions that almost any decision can be defended or overturned on appeal, depending on how smart your lawyer is and which precedent he selects to argue your case."
- "At night I lie dry-eyed on my little bed and turn my head to and fro to catch sight of one little star by one little star along the tail of Hydra, and think you are alive, you survive. Is this not what you wanted?"
Etymology
After the Hydra, from Greek mythology, which grew two new heads every time one of its heads was cut off. The biology sense alludes to the budding method of asexual reproduction that the hydra practices, similar to growing new heads. The figurative sense refers to how the creature could not be killed by a swift, decisive solution (in contrast to a Gordian knot).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhaɪ̯dɹə/
- British English: /ˈhaɪ̯dɹə/
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Places.