medusa

noun
me*du*sa \ mi-ˈdü-sə \ -ˈdyü- \ -zə \
14th century{ds||1||}
  • a mortal Gorgon who is slain when decapitated by Perseus
  • the typically free-swimming, bell-shaped, usually sexually-reproducing, solitary or colonial form of a cnidarian (such as an obelia, box jellyfish, or sea nettle) in which nematocyst-studded tentacles arise and hang down from the margin of the nearly transparent, gelatinous bell
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