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Scylla

[sil-uh]
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noun
  1. Modern name Scilla. a rock in the Strait of Messina off the S coast of Italy.
  2. Classical Mythology. a sea nymph who was transformed into a sea monster: later identified with the rock Scylla.Compare Charybdis(def 2).
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Idioms
  1. between Scylla and Charybdis, between two equally perilous alternatives, neither of which can be passed without encountering and probably falling victim to the other.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for scylla

Historical Examples

  • What a fatality, that you have no better an option—either a Scylla or a Charybdis.

    Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • What hath availed me Syrtes or Scylla, what desolate Charybdis?

  • She rode up close to Scylla and put her hand on Texas's neck.

  • Scylla exclaimed to Martha as John fixed her on Texas's back.

  • Then, with great pains and trouble, she pulled and lifted Scylla into the saddle.

British Dictionary definitions for scylla

Scylla

noun
  1. Greek myth a sea nymph transformed into a sea monster believed to drown sailors navigating the Strait of Messina. She was identified with a rock off the Italian coastCompare Charybdis
  2. between Scylla and Charybdis in a predicament in which avoidance of either of two dangers means exposure to the other
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scylla

Scylla

n.

sea-monster in the Strait of Messina, from Latinized form of Greek Skylla, of unknown origin, perhaps related to skyllein "to tear."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with scylla

Scylla

see between a rock and a hard place (Scylla and Charybdis).

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.