GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 2 definitions 

  1.       

    Hawk moth . (Zool.) Any moth of the family Sphingidae, of which there are numerous genera and species.  They are large, handsome moths with long narrow forewings capable of powerful flight and hovering over flowers to feed.  They fly mostly at twilight and hover about flowers like a humming bird, sucking the honey by means of a long, slender proboscis.  The larvae are large, hairless caterpillars ornamented with green and other bright colors, and often with a caudal spine. See Sphinx, also Tobacco worm, and Tomato worm.
    Syn. -- hawk moth, sphingid, sphinx moth, hummingbird moth.
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    WordNet 1.5
    Tobacco Hawk Moth (Macrosila Carolina), and its Larva, the Tobacco Worm.
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    ☞ The larvae of several species of hawk moths feed on grapevines.  The elm-tree hawk moth is Ceratomia Amyntor.
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  2.       

    Sphinx , n. [L., from Gr. σφίγξ, usually derived from σφίγγειν to bind tight or together, as if the Throttler.]
    1. (a) In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.
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      The awful ruins of the days of old . . .
      Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphinx.
      Shelley.

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      (b) On Greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman. The most famous Grecian sphinx, that of Thebes in Bœotia, is said to have proposed a riddle to the Thebans, and killed those who were unable to guess it. The enigma was solved by Œdipus, whereupon the sphinx slew herself. “Subtle as sphinx.”  
      Shak.

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    2. Hence: A person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy.
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    3. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of large moths of the family Sphingidae; -- called also hawk moth.  See also tomato worm.
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      ☞ The larva is a stout naked caterpillar which, when at rest, often assumes a position suggesting the Egyptian sphinx, whence the name.
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    4. (Zool.) The Guinea, or sphinx, baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx).
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      Sphinx baboon (Zool.), a large West African baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx), often kept in menageries. -- Sphinx moth. (Zool.) Same as Sphinx, 3.
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