medusa
1
9.6
- noun
- /məˈdjuːzə/
- Specialized
:
medusa
- Tiny and translucent, the immortal medusas drift gracefully through the water column, almost invisible to the eye.
- medusa-like
- medusa head
Examples
-
A medusa of tentacles waved around its smoldering red eyes as its heavy footfalls shook the arena.
Fiction book (2002) -
There are sixty-five species of medusas in the Mediterranean now that were not here a hundred years ago.
Fiction book (2000) -
Ahbbbb had a black-eared hat perched on her head, nestled amongst her writhing, medusa-like appendages.
Fiction book (1998) -
A menacing medusa of tangled net lines and hawsers that we hung from the A-frame of our catamaran and named Polly P, for the polypropylene lines that made up its bulk.
Academic text (2003) -
The most familiar stage is the medusa stage, where the jellyfish swims freely with tentacles hanging down.
-
In the ocean, various species of medusa can be seen pulsating as they move, often with long, trailing tentacles.
Synonyms
A free-swimming stage in some sea animals with a soft umbrella-shaped body and tentacles
A free-swimming stage of some sea animals that has a bell-shaped body and tentacles
How Developed
Surface Forms
Etymology
Medusa comes from the name of the Greek monster Medusa, famous for hair made of snakes. Scientists used that name for the jellyfish-like stage because its bell-shaped body and long tentacles look like a 'head' with snake-like hair, so medusa now means the free-swimming, bell-shaped form of animals like jellyfish.