See Also: Sphinx(medicine)
sphinx(dictionary)
sphinx(encyclopedia)
Sphinx(dictionary)

Lincoln (oh) and sphinx (iou)


Lincoln (oh)



the capital city of the US state of Nebraska

sphinx (iou)



sphinx noun. . LME.
[Latin from Greek Sphigx, Sphigg-, app. from sphiggein draw tight.]
Greek Mythology. (Sphinx.) A hybrid monster, usu. described as having a woman's head and a (winged) lion's body, which plagued Thebes until Oedipus solved its riddle. Also, any monster resembling this. LME.
b. fig. An inscrutable or enigmatic person or thing; a mystery. E17.
R. A. Vaughan History fairly questioned is no Sphinx. Bath Herald Mr Dodson has..been a political sphinx.
Any of several ancient Greek or (esp.) Egyptian stone figures of a creature with a human or animal head and (occas.) breast and a lion's body; spec. (Sphinx) the colossal figure of this kind near the pyramids at Giza in Egypt. L16.
A baboon, esp. a mandrill. Also sphinx-baboon. Now rare. E17.
A moth of the genus Sphinx, or of the family Sphingidae, so called from the typical attitude of the caterpillar; a hawkmoth. Also sphinx-moth. Chiefly US. M18.
sphinxian adjective of or pertaining to the Sphinx; sphinxlike: L16.
sphinxlike adjective resembling the Sphinx; enigmatic, mysterious, inscrutable: M19.