chimera
or chi·mae·ra
Often Chimera .Greek Mythology. a fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
any grotesque monster having disparate parts, as depicted or described in art, legend, fantasy fiction, video games, etc.
a strange, horrible, or impossible idea or figment of the imagination: He is far different from the chimera your fears have made of him.Without equality, unity is a chimera.
anything created by taking parts or aspects of different kinds of things and combining them: We are like an audio-art chimera, in that we act as part literary journal, part music showcase, and part storytelling podcast.
Genetics. an organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues, such as one produced artificially by combining cells or tissues from different species: Chimeras were generated by splicing West Nile and Zika viruses into the genetic backbone of two different insect-specific viruses.
being or relating to a chimera or chimeras: The chimera embryos used in this research are sheep embryos containing human cells.
Origin of chimera
1Other words for chimera
Other words from chimera
- chi·mer·ic, chi·maer·ic, adjective
- chi·mer·ism, chi·maer·ism, noun
Words Nearby chimera
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use chimera in a sentence
Some consider my 2015 paper in this light, although after consultation with the NIH and the journal, we purposely did not provide the genetic sequence of the chimera in the original publication.
“We never created a supervirus.” Ralph Baric explains gain-of-function research. | Rowan Jacobsen | July 26, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewThe resulting chimera would demonstrate whether the spike of SHC014 would attach to human cells.
Inside the risky bat-virus engineering that links America to Wuhan | Rowan Jacobsen | June 29, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewFor years, scientists have flirted with ethical boundaries by mixing human cells with those of rats and pigs, which are relatively far from us in evolutionary terms, to reduce the chance of a mentally “humanized” chimera.
Scientists Grew Human Cells in Monkey Embryos, and Yes, It’s an Ethical Minefield | Shelly Fan | April 20, 2021 | Singularity HubWhile both review boards of those universities approved the consent and the study, it’s not clear if the consent included specific mention of the chimera research.
Scientists Report Creating the First Embryo With Human and Non-Human Primate Cells | Alice Park | April 15, 2021 | TimeIn a ground-breaking experiment, researchers have successfully created the first human-monkey chimera.
Scientists Report Creating the First Embryo With Human and Non-Human Primate Cells | Alice Park | April 15, 2021 | Time
In the Iliad, a chimera is a grotesque animal jumble, “lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle.”
Delegitimizing Israel Makes Peace Harder to Achieve | Gil Troy | February 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTOf course, the happy chimera still holds as a liberal canonical truth.
Barack Obama’s Cairo Speech, and His Israel Problem | Marty Peretz | February 25, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the autumn 1944 issue of the journal chimera: A Literary Quarterly, Barzun published “In Memoriam: R.H.P., 1907-1944.”
Remembering Jacques Barzun Remembering Robert Pitney | Paul Devlin | October 30, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter the war, chimera was edited by poet Barbara Howes and Ximena de Angulo.
Remembering Jacques Barzun Remembering Robert Pitney | Paul Devlin | October 30, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe cinematic chimera was inspired by a traumatizing breakup suffered by Glodell.
Was it for some grandiose, impossible chimera, that he had taken men from quiet useful lives and the simple round of kindliness?
The Life of Mazzini | Bolton King"With all the ills the flesh is heir to," true health is a chimera, an existing state unknown to man.
Tyranny of God | Joseph LewisThe chimera was a fire-breathing monster, with the head of a lion, the tail of a dragon, and the body of a goat.
Milton's Comus | John MiltonThis chimera was still dear to the hearts of scientific men.
Celebrated Travels and Travellers | Jules VerneAnd, if you would pursue this chimera, it is not in a democracy that you are likely to surprise it.
American Sketches | Charles Whibley
British Dictionary definitions for chimera
chimaera
/ (kaɪˈmɪərə, kɪ-) /
(often capital) Greek myth a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent
a fabulous beast made up of parts taken from various animals
a wild and unrealistic dream or notion
biology an organism, esp a cultivated plant, consisting of at least two genetically different kinds of tissue as a result of mutation, grafting, etc
Origin of chimera
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for chimera
[ (keye-meer-uh, ki-meer-uh) ]
A monster in classical mythology who had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon or serpent.
Notes for chimera
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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