hydra

名词 n.
中文释义
发音 hī'drə

英文释义

名词 n.
  1. A dragon-like creature with many heads and the ability to regrow them when maimed.
  2. 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.
  3. A complex, multifarious problem or situation that cannot be easily and rapidly solved. figuratively
    — 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.

词形变化

hydras plural hydrae plural hydræ plural

词汇关系

衍生词
brown hydra freshwater hydra green hydra hydralike hydranth hydriform microhydra

词源

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).
0 次浏览 数据来源: Wiktionary