manticore

American  

[man-ti-kawr, -kohr] / ˈmæn tɪˌkɔr, -ˌkoʊr /

noun

1. a legendary monster with a man's head, horns, a lion's body, and the tail of a dragon or, sometimes, a scorpion.

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manticore British  

/ ˈmæntɪˌkɔː /

noun

1. a monster with a lion's body, a scorpion's tail, and a man's head with three rows of teeth. It roamed the jungles of India and, like the Sphinx, would ask travellers a riddle and kill them when they failed to answer it

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Etymology

Origin of manticore

1300–50; Middle English < Latin mantichōrās < Greek, erroneous reading for martichṓras < Iranian; compare Old Persian martiya- man, Avestan xvar- devour, Persian mardom-khar < man-eating; probably ultimately alluding to the tiger, once common in the Caspian Sea region

Example Sentences

In the first couple hours of Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara I fought and killed goblins, skeletons, gnolls, kobolds, displacer beasts, hellhounds, and a manticore, among myriad other classic D&D beasties.

From Forbes • Jun. 21, 2013

Barbara drew her manticore fleece closely round her shoulders and threw another bundle of twenties on to the fire.

From The Guardian • Jul. 23, 2010

On the third Sunday the poet appears with a manticore, says the gorgon has died "of murder," which brings the same fate to the town's other gorgons, and manticores become the latest craze.

From Time Magazine Archive

They find him dying, surrounded by his unicorn, gorgon and manticore, symbolizing the poet's youth, manhood and old age.

From Time Magazine Archive

The guards started coughing; The manticore shot spines in our direction, but they ricocheted off my lion’s coat.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan