Sphinx, the

1. the Great Sphinx a large, very ancient sphinx which is close to the Pyramids of El Giza in Egypt and is visited by many tourists

2. in Greek mythology, a creature with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. She lay outside Thebes and killed people who could not answer her riddle (=very difficult question). Oedipus answered the riddle, and the Sphinx killed herself.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

sphinx , Sphinx /sfɪŋks/ noun [countable]
an ancient Egyptian image of a lion with a human head, lying down

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

Sphinx, the

1. the Great Sphinx a large, very ancient sphinx which is close to the Pyramids of El Giza in Egypt and is visited by many tourists

2. in Greek mythology, a creature with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. She lay outside Thebes and killed people who could not answer her riddle (=very difficult question). Oedipus answered the riddle, and the Sphinx killed herself.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲