Me‧du‧sa /mɪˈdjuːzə $ -ˈduːsə/
in ancient Greek mythology, a woman who had snakes instead of hair and turned everyone who looked at her into stone. She was killed by Perseus, who used his shiny shield (=a metal object carried by soldiers to protect themselves) as a mirror so that he did not have to look at her directly, and cut off her head. ⇒ gorgon

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲