Word · Frequency #29852
hydra
九头蛇；许德拉
In Greek mythology, a monstrous snake with nine heads; when one head was cut off, two grew back in its place.
- 1.
A dragon-like creature with many heads and the ability to regrow them when maimed.
- 2.
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.
- 3.
A complex, multifarious problem or situation that cannot be easily and rapidly solved.
长蛇座；难以根除的祸患；大患；水螅；九头蛇；难以根除之祸害
In use
The city's traffic problem is a hydra: every new road seems to create congestion somewhere else.
We fixed one error in the system, only to discover the bug was a hydra with many other points of failure.
Updating the old database has become a hydra, because each change brings new compatibility issues.
the hydra + [verb]
在希腊神话中，许德拉是九头蛇怪；此义可用定冠词 the 或不定冠词 a。
The hydra grew two new heads for each one that was cut off.
这条九头蛇每被砍掉一个头，就会长出两个新头。
the constellation Hydra + [verb]
作星座名时 Hydra 首字母大写，且常与 the constellation 连用。
The constellation Hydra is best seen in spring.
长蛇座在春季最易观测。
Connections
Collocations
- Lernaean Hydra
- （希腊神话中的）勒拿九头蛇
- Hercules killed the Lernaean Hydra as one of his twelve labors.赫拉克勒斯把杀死勒拿九头蛇作为他的十二项功绩之一。
- the Hydra
- （希腊神话中的）九头蛇
- The Hydra grew two new heads for every one that was cut off.九头蛇每被砍掉一个头，就会长出两个新头。
- many-headed hydra
- 难以根除的多方面祸患
- Poverty is a many-headed hydra that cannot be solved by one policy.贫困是一个多头祸患，不是一项政策就能解决的。
- freshwater hydra
- 淡水水螅
- The freshwater hydra is often used in studies of regeneration.淡水水螅常用于再生研究。
- the constellation Hydra
- 长蛇座
- The constellation Hydra stretches across the southern sky.长蛇座横跨南方的天空。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想：水(hydro)里的多头蛇怪，砍掉一头又长两头——所以 hydra 也表示难以根除的祸患。
Context & Register
语域：mixed 常见场景：Greek mythology、formal prose、astronomy、zoology hydra 的用法比较多样：神话和比喻义通常见于较正式的书面语，比喻义多用来指复杂难除的问题；天文学和动物学义项比较常见于专业领域。日常口语中通常较少出现。
Grammar Note
复数形式为 hydras，也可写作较罕见的 hydræ。
Pronunciation & Spelling
No common exact rhyme. Hydrant and hydrogen share the initial stressed syllable /ˈhaɪdrə/, but their endings differ. Hydraulic looks similar but is pronounced haɪˈdrɔːlɪk with stress on the second syllable.
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.