Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A legendary serpent or dragon with lethal breath and glance.
- noun Any of various tropical American lizards of the genus Basiliscus, having a crest on the head and back and fringes of skin around the toes of the hind feet that enable it to run upright across the surface of water for short distances.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A fabulous creature formerly believed to exist, variously regarded as a kind of serpent, lizard, or dragon, and sometimes identified with the cockatrice.
- noun In herpetology, a lizard of the old genus Basiliscus (which see) in the widest sense.
- noun In ornithology, the golden-crested wren or kinglet. See
basiliscus , 2. - noun A large piece of ordnance: so called from its destructive power.
- Pertaining to or characteristic of the basilisk: as, a basilisk eye or look (a sharp, penetrating,malignant eye or look, like that attributed to the basilisk).
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun 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 . - noun (Zoöl.) A lizard of the genus Basiliscus, belonging to the family
Iguanidæ . - noun (Mil.), obsolete A large piece of ordnance, so called from its supposed resemblance to the serpent of that name, or from its size.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
mythical (andheraldic )snake -likedragon type, reputed to be sovenomous that its gaze was deadly. - noun In
heraldry , a type of dragon - noun zoology A treedwelling type of
lizard , of genus Basiliscus. - noun A type of large
brass cannon .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun ancient brass cannon
- noun small crested arboreal lizard able to run on its hind legs; of tropical America
- noun (classical mythology) a serpent (or lizard or dragon) able to kill with its breath or glance
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The basilisk is the enemy of the yale, and if it finds the yale asleep it stings it between the eyes, causing its eyes to swell until they burst.
Archive 2007-12-01 2007
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The basilisk is the enemy of the yale, and if it finds the yale asleep it stings it between the eyes, causing its eyes to swell until they burst.
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There was the completion of the circle: the basilisk was a small lizard, but its glance could stun or kill other creatures.
Robot Adept Anthony, Piers 1988
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As he spoke he realized something that had not quite surfaced before: the basilisk was a magical creature that could do magic.
A Spell For Chameleon Anthony, Piers 1977
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As he spoke he realized something that had not quite surfaced before: the basilisk was a magical creature that could do magic.
A Spell For Chameleon Anthony, Piers 1977
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The basilisk is a fabulous conglomerate, a winged animal formed with the three-crested head of a cock and the body of a lizardlike serpent with a three-pointed tail.
A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art Gertrude Grace Sill 1975
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The basilisk is a fabulous conglomerate, a winged animal formed with the three-crested head of a cock and the body of a lizardlike serpent with a three-pointed tail.
A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art Gertrude Grace Sill 1975
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Her eye was like that of the fabled serpent, called the basilisk, and in her anger she ever struck terror.
Roger Trewinion Joseph Hocking 1898
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Nowadays, the poet would call a basilisk bonny rather than miss his alliteration.
Without Prejudice Israel Zangwill 1895
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The basilisk was the Phoenix of the serpent-tribe; and the vase or urn was probably the vessel, shaped like a cucumber, with a projecting spout, out of which, on the monuments of Egypt, the priests are represented pouring streams of the _cruz ansata_ or Tau Cross, and of _sceptres_, over the kings.
Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Albert Pike 1850
chained_bear commented on the word basilisk
"I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall;
I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk;
I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,
Deceive more slyly than Ulysses could,
And, like a Sinon, take another Troy.
I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murderous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down."
—Richard of Gloucester, Act III, sc. ii
Shakespeare's "Richard Duke of York" (a.k.a. "Henry VI, Part 3")
February 13, 2007
frindley commented on the word basilisk
Latin name: Regulus
Other names: Baselicoc, Basiliscus, Cocatris, Cockatrice, Kokatris, Sibilus
Its odor, voice and even look can kill.
The basilisk is usually described as a crested snake, and sometimes as a cock with a snake's tail. It is called the king (regulus) of the serpents because its Greek name basiliscus means "little king"; its odor is said to kill snakes. Fire coming from the basilisk's mouth kills birds, and its glance will kill a man. It can kill by hissing, which is why it is also called the sibilus. Like the scorpion it likes dry places; its bite causes the victim to become hydrophobic. A basilisk is hatched from a cock's egg, a rare occurence. Only the weasel can kill a basilisk.
October 12, 2008
hernesheir commented on the word basilisk
Railroad telegraphers' shorthand for "What is to be done with the balance? --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906.
January 20, 2013
bilby commented on the word basilisk
I guess the Roman equivalent of Wheedle On The Needle might have been Basilisk On The Obelisk.
April 16, 2018