/ˈhaɪdɹə/
OriginAfter 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).
- A dragon-like creature with many heads and the ability to regrow them when maimed.
- 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.
- figurativelyA complex, multifarious problem or situation that cannot be easily and rapidly solved.
“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 decisio”
- GreekA mythological serpent with many heads, slain by Hercules as one of his twelve labours.
- A spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a serpent. It lies just south of the zodiac and contains the star Alphard.
“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 wha”
- One of Pluto's moons.
- One of the Saronic Islands in the Aegean Sea.
- A commune in Algiers Province, Algeria.
Formshydras(plural) · hydrae(plural) · hydræ(plural)