GORDIAN a. 3 definitions
Pertaining to Gordius, king of Phrygia, or to a knot tied by him; hence, intricate; complicated; inextricable. Gordian knot, an intricate knot tied by Gordius in the thong which connected the pole of the chariot with the yoke. An oracle having declared that he who should untie it should be master of Asia, Alexander the…
GORDIUS n.
A genus of long, slender, nematoid worms, parasitic in insects until near maturity, when they leave the insect, and live in water, in which they deposit their eggs; -- called also hair eel, hairworm, and hair snake, from the absurd, but common and widely diffused, notion that they are metamorphosed horsehairs.…
CUT v.
. (d) (Naut.) To raze; as, to cut down a frigate into a sloop. -- To cut the knot or the Gordian knot, to dispose of a difficulty summarily; to solve it by prompt, arbitrary action, rather than by skill or patience. -- To cut lots, to determine lots by cuttings cards; to draw lots. -- To cut off. (a) To sever; to se…
LOBLOLLY n.
oblolly bay (Bot.), an elegant white-flowered evergreen shrub or small tree, of the genus Gordonia (G. Lasianthus), growing in the maritime parts of the Southern United States. Its bark is sometimes used in tanning. Also, a similar West Indian tree (Laplacea hæmatoxylon). -- Loblolly boy, a surgeon's attendant on ship…