hydra
/ˈhaɪdɹə//ˈhaɪ̯dɹə/
hydra noun: a dragon-like creature with many heads and the ability to regrow them when maimed.
Noun
hydra (plural hydras or hydrae or hydræ)
- 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.
- A 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 decision can be defended or overturned on appeal, depending on how smart your lawyer is and which...2009, Kris Frieswick, Till Death Do Us Pay
Proper noun capitalized: Hydra
Hydra
- A 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 what you wanted?2021, A. K. Blakemore, The Manningtree Witches, Granta Books, page 232
- One of Pluto's moons.
- One of the Saronic Islands in the Aegean Sea.
- A commune in Algiers Province, Algeria.
hydra meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
hydra in Hindi
- हाइड्रा
hydra in Tamil
- ஐதரா, ஹைட்ரா
hydra in Marathi
- हायड्रा, हायड्र, हायड्र्रा
hydra in Urdu
- مار آبی, پانی کا سانپ
More languagesFewer languages
- hydra in Bengali
- হাইড্রা
- hydra in Telugu
- హైడ్రా haiḍrā
- hydra in Malayalam
- ഹൈഡ്ര, ഹൈഡ്രാ
- hydra in Kannada
- ಹೈಡ್ರಾ, ಹೈಡ್ರ
- hydra in Punjabi
- ਹਾਈਡਰਾ, ਹਾਇਡਰਾ, ਹਾਈਡ੍ਰਾ
- hydra in Gujarati
- હાઇડ્રા, હાઈડ્રા, હાયડ્રા
- hydra in Odia
- ହାଇଡ୍ରା, ହାଇଡ୍ର
- hydra in Nepali
- हाइड्रा, हाइड्रे
- hydra in Tagalog
- idra
- hydra in Thai
- ไฮดรา hai-draa
- hydra in Vietnamese
- thuỷ tức
Synonyms of hydra
Forms of hydra
| plural | hydras |
|---|---|
| plural | hydrae |
| plural | hydræ |
Origin of hydra
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).
From Latin Hydra, the mythical serpent, originally from Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra), from Proto-Indo-European *údreh₂ (“aquatic”). Doublet of otter.
Words formed from hydra
Questions about hydra
- What does hydra mean?
- Hydra means a dragon-like creature with many heads and the ability to regrow them when maimed.
- What is hydra in Hindi?
- Hydra in Hindi is हाइड्रा. See Hydra meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is hydra?
- Hydra can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce hydra?
- Hydra is pronounced /ˈhaɪdɹə/.
- What is the plural of hydra?
- The plural of hydra is hydras.
Words near hydra in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hydra (page history and authors); Hydra (page history and authors); hydra (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hydra (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hydra (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hydra (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hydra (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hydra (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hydra (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hydra (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hydra (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hydra (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hydra (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hydra.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Hydra.wav.
Cite this entry: “hydra.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hydra. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.