| 单词 | sphinx |
| 释义 | sphinx /sfingks/, n. , pl. sphinxes, sphinges /sfin"jeez/. 1. (in ancient Egypt) a. a figure of an imaginary creature having the head of a man or an animal and the body of a lion. b. (usually cap.) the colossal recumbent stone figure of this kind near the pyramids of Giza. 2. (cap.) Class. Myth. a monster, usually represented as having the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Seated on a rock outside of Thebes, she proposed a riddle to travelers, killing them when they answered incorrectly, as all did before Oedipus. When he answered her riddle correctly the Sphinx killed herself. 3. any similar monster. 4. a mysterious, inscrutable person or thing, esp. one given to enigmatic questions or answers. [1375-1425; late ME < L < Gk sphínx, equiv. to sphing-, base of sphíngein to hold tight (cf. SPHINCTER) + -s nom. sing. ending] |
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