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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Medusa \Me*du"sa\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?.]
1. (Class. Myth.) The Gorgon; or one of the Gorgons whose
hair was changed into serpents, after which all who looked
upon her were turned into stone.
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2. [pl. {Medusae}.] (Zool.) Any free swimming acaleph; a
jellyfish.
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Note: The larger medusae belong to the Discophora, and are
sometimes called {covered-eyed medusae}; others, known
as {naked-eyed medusae}, belong to the Hydroidea, and
are usually developed by budding from hydroids. See
{Discophora}, {Hydroidea}, and {Hydromedusa}.
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{Medusa bud} (Zool.), one of the buds of a hydroid, destined
to develop into a gonophore or medusa. See {Athecata}, and
{Gonotheca}.

{Medusa's head}.
(a) (Zool.) An astrophyton.
(b) (Astron.) A cluster of stars in the constellation
Perseus. It contains the bright star Algol.
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