Meaning of Chimera | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Alternative letter-case form of Chimera, a supposed monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or serpent, killed by the hero Bellerophon.
   Greek, alt-of
2. A supposed fire-breathing monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or snake, killed by the hero Bellerophon.
   Greek
3. Any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals.
4. A fire-spewing mountain in Lycia or Cilicia, presumed to be an ancient name for the Yanartaş region of Turkey's Antalya Province.
5. A foolish, incongruous, or vain thought or product of the imagination.
   figuratively
6. Former name of Himara, a port town in southern Albania.
   historical
7. Anything composed of very disparate parts.
   figuratively
8. Former name of Ceraunian Mountains, the Albanian mountain range near Himara.
   historical
9. A grotesque like a gargoyle, but without a spout for rainwater.
10. An organism with genetically distinct cells originating from two or more zygotes.
11. Synonym of bogeyman: any terrifying thing, especially as an unreal, imagined threat.
    figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“...beestis clepid chymeres, that han a part of ech beest, and suche ben not, no but oonly in opynyoun...”

“Bellerophon was commanded to destroy⟳ this monster, and with the assistance of the flying horse, Pegasus, he slew the chimera.”

“The game includes a bunch of chimeras, with the lion heads shooting fire and the snake tails whipping around trying to bite⟳ the player.”

“A voice had called him forth to think⟳ in solitude—a voice he durst not resist⟳, the awful one of the future. It fell on John's heart like⟳ the mutter of approaching desolation. He heard it coming on, as the spell-bound in a hideous dream⟳ await, wordless and shivering, the progress⟳ of some chimera monster, whose grasp is to crush⟳ and destroy⟳.”

“The Magophonia was essentially the eruption of a long-simmering animosity between the pārsās (who revered Ahura Mazdā) and the Median magi (who believed in the supremacy of Mithra and Apam Napāt). A vivid expression of this animosity is displayed on the door jambs of Persepolis, where Darius is killing with a dagger a chimera monster with a scorpion tail.”

“In the middle of theſe Cogitations, Apprehenſions, and Reflections, it came into my Thought one day, that all this might be a mere Chimera of my own⟳; and that this Foot might be the Print⟳ of my own⟳ Foot, when I came on Shore from my Boat: This chear'd me up a little too, and I began to perſuade myſelf it was all a Deluſion; that it was nothing elſe but my own⟳ Foot; and why might I not come⟳ that way from the Boat, as well as I was going that way to the Boat: […]”

“It was very different, when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand: but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit⟳ itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest⟳ in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange⟳ chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.”

“As to being taken up, himself, for a rioter, and punished with the rest⟳, Mr Dennis dismissed that possibility from his thoughts as an idle chimera; arguing that the line of conduct he had adopted at Newgate, and the service he had rendered that day, would be more than a set-off against any evidence which might identify⟳ him as a member of the crowd: […]”

“Although now considered a pseudo-science, the 'Abbasids were also fascinated by alchemy and the chimera of transforming base⟳ metals into gold for their treasury.”

“He built his car one piece at a time, producing a chimera with the head of a Volkswagen, the body of a Geely, and the tail of an aftermarket Porsche.”

“Throughout 12 tracks the ear is treated to a musical chimera where folk frolics and gypsy jaunts fight⟳ with klezmeric machinations and Slavic ska to form⟳ a brass infused Ottoman folk-punk or it might just be the sound⟳ of Bellowhead working as the house band in an Armenian brothel.”

“A chimera is essentially a hybrid animal made up of various animal parts. The famous parapet chimeras on the north tower of Notre Dame in Paris, especially the brooding double-horned fellow with protruding tongue on the west parapet originally assumed to relate⟳ to a thirteenth-century model⟳, are classic examples.”

“The DNA test⟳ returned a false negative because the killer was a chimera, having absorbed her twin in utero.”

“[P]reembryo cells from different parents can combine⟳ and grow⟳ into a chimera (an individual with cells from two or more zygotes)—in this case, an entity containing genetic material from four parents! Spontaneous chimeras […] occur⟳ rarely in our species. Recent examples include⟳ a woman who resulted from the merger of two zygotes or the early fusion of two genetically distinct embryos.”

“The chimeras […] are an extant group of about 30 species. They have⟳ the upper jaw fused with the cranium and a gill cover⟳ over the four gill slits. They also have⟳ toothy plates that give⟳ them a ratlike appearance, thus the common name⟳ "ratfish." The group occurs in ocean depths worldwide, where they mainly feed⟳ on invertebrates.”

“How could that Chymera haue come⟳ in any mannes mynd?”

“...full of pale fancies, and chimeras huge...”

“CHIMERA, a fabulous monſter...”

“CHIMERA... The foundation of the fable was, that in Lycia there was a burning mountain, or vulcano, of this name⟳; that the top of this mountain was ſeldom without lions, nor the middle, which had very good graſs, without goats; that ſerpents bred at the bottom, which was marſhy; and that Bellerophon rendered the mountain habitable.”

“CHIMÆRA, in geography, a port town of Turky in Europe, ſituated at the entrance of the gulph of Venice, in the province of Epirus, about thirty-two miles north of the city Corfu, near which are the mountains of Chimæra, which divide⟳ Epirus from Theſſaly...”

CEFR level