Basilisk
[bæzilisk]
Definition
(noun.) small crested arboreal lizard able to run on its hind legs; of tropical America.
(noun.) ancient brass cannon.
(noun.) (classical mythology) a serpent (or lizard or dragon) able to kill with its breath or glance.
Checked by Jerome--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A fabulous serpent, or dragon. The ancients alleged that its hissing would drive away all other serpents, and that its breath, and even its look, was fatal. See Cockatrice.
(n.) A lizard of the genus Basiliscus, belonging to the family Iguanidae.
(n.) A large piece of ordnance, so called from its supposed resemblance to the serpent of that name, or from its size.
Inputed by Cathleen
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Cockatrice.
Checker: Nanette
Definition
n. a fabulous creature about a foot long with a black-and-yellow skin and fiery red eyes so named according to Pliny from the crest on the head like a crown—variously regarded as a kind of dragon or cockatrice: in modern zoology a harmless crested lizard of tropical South America: an ancient brass cannon throwing a shot of about 200 lb. weight.
Typist: Tito
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. The cockatrice. A sort of serpent hatched from the egg of a cock. The basilisk had a bad eye and its glance was fatal. Many infidels deny this creature's existence but Semprello Aurator saw and handled one that had been blinded by lightning as a punishment for having fatally gazed on a lady of rank whom Jupiter loved. Juno afterward restored the reptile's sight and hid it in a cave. Nothing is so well attested by the ancients as the existence of the basilisk but the cocks have stopped laying.
Inputed by Carlo
Examples
- Fascinated as by a basilisk with three heads, I could not leave this clique; the ground near them seemed to hold my feet. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- But at all the dismal dinners, leaden lunches, basilisk balls, and other melancholy pageants, her mere appearance is a relief. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Other titles came later into general use, the royal or carthorne, carrying 48 pounds; the culverin, 18 pounds; the demi-culverin, 9 pounds; the basilisk, 48; the siren, 60, etc. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
Typist: Nadine