Pĕg'a-sŭs, n.
n. [Lat. Pegasus, Gr. Πήγασος, It. & Sp. Pegaso, Fr. Pégase.]
Sense 1. (Gr. Myth.) A certain winged horse of the Muses, who sprang from the blood of Medusa when she was slain, and with a blow of his hoof caused Hippocrene, the fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount Helicon. Bellerophon is fabled to have ridden him when he slew the Chimæra. But when Bellerophon wished to fly on his back to heaven, he threw him off and ascended to the skies alone, where he was changed into a constellation.
Sense 2. (Astron.) One of the northern constellations.
Sense 3. (Zoöl.) A genus of fishes with large pectoral fins, by means of which they take short flights or leaps through the air.
