from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun Greek Mythology One of several loathsome, voracious monsters with the head and trunk of a woman and the tail, wings, and talons of a bird.
noun A predatory person.
noun A shrewish woman.
from The Century Dictionary.
noun In Greek myth, a winged monster, ravenous and filthy, having the face and body of a woman and the wings of a bird of prey, with the feet and fingers armed with sharp claws and the face pale with hunger, serving as a minister of divine vengeance, and defiling everything it touched.
noun Hence A rapacious, grasping person; one who is repulsively greedy and unfeeling.
noun In ornithology: The harpy-eagle.
noun An English book-name of the marsh-harrier or moor-buzzard, Circus æruginosus. Also called white - headed harpy.
noun In mammalogy, a fruit-bat of the genus Harpyia.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
noun (Gr. Myth.) A fabulous winged monster, ravenous and filthy, having the face of a woman and the body of a vulture, with long claws, and the face pale with hunger. Some writers mention two, others three.
noun One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
noun The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus æruginosus).
noun A large and powerful, double-crested, short-winged American eagle (Thrasaëtus harpyia). It ranges from Texas to Brazil.
noun (Zoöl.) A small, insectivorous Indian bat (Harpiocephalus harpia).
noun (Zoöl.) the house fly.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun any of various fruit bats of the genus Nyctimene distinguished by nostrils drawn out into diverging tubes
noun large black-and-white crested eagle of tropical America
noun a malicious woman with a fierce temper
noun (Greek mythology) vicious winged monster; often depicted as a bird with the head of a woman
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Latin harpȳia, singular of Latin harpȳiae, the Harpies, from Greek harpūiai.]
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Examples
Sources within Downing Street have indicated that Harridan Harpy is likely to receive a major promotion in the Cabinet reshuffle expected after Thursday's Local and European Elections.
Sources within Downing Street have indicated that Harridan Harpy is likely to receive a major promotion in the Cabinet reshuffle expected after Thursday's Local and European Elections.
At almost the same moment, however, Harriett Harman, Chief Labour Harpy, is found to be supportive of the notion that the law be changed to enable ‘all-black’ shortlists to be drawn up for the selection of candidates for election to Parliament by individual constituencies.
At almost the same moment, however, Harriett Harman, Chief Labour Harpy, is found to be supportive of the notion that the law be changed to enable ‘all-black’ shortlists to be drawn up for the selection of candidates for election to Parliament by individual constituencies.
A Harpy is a Greco-Roman mythological creature with the lower body, wings and claws of a bird and the chest and head of a woman, often portrayed as very ugly and loathsome.
A Harpy is a Greco-Roman mythological creature with the lower body, wings and claws of a bird and the chest and head of a woman, often portrayed as very ugly and loathsome.
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