Sphinx, n.
n. [Lat. sphinx, Gr. σφίγξ, usually derived from σφίγγειν, to bind tight or together, as if the throttler.]
Sense 1. (Myth.) A monster usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman; — represented also in other forms.
Sense 2. (Entom.) A genus of lepidopterous insects, the species of which are commonly called hawk-moths.
Sense 3. The Guinea baboon; Cynocephalus papio.
New Am. Cyc.
