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.
2. [pl. Medusae ().] Zool.
Any free swimming acaleph; a jellyfish.
⇒ 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 hidroids. See Discophora, Hydroidea, and Hydromedusa.
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.
© Webster 1913.