Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A legendary monster having the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon or scorpion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fabulous monster having the body of a beast of prey, with a human head.
  • noun An unidentified and perhaps imaginary kind of monkey.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A mythical beast with the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and the head of a man, said to be able to shoot spikes from its tail or mane.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a mythical monster having the head of man (with horns) and the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English manticores, from Latin mantichōra, from Greek mantikhōras, variant of martiokhōras, from Old Iranian *martiya-khvāra-, man-eater : *martiya-, man; see mer- in Indo-European roots + *-khvāra-, eater; see swel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin mantichōra, from Greek μαντιχώρας (mantichōras), μαρτιχόρας (martichoras), μαρτιοχώρας (martiochōras) "man-eater, tiger", from Old Persian *martya-χvāra "man-eater".

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Examples

  • A manticore is a vulnerable creature, lacking human hands to defend the softness of its face, and the sting compensates for that vulnerability.

    Cat Rambo catrambo 2007

  • Yes, that is six-year-old me with a stuffy manticore.

    Last Round of the Tourney yuki_onna 2010

  • Of course, being a manticore it was impossible to destroy, and its wounds healed almost as fast as they were made.

    The Three Furies Kaza Kingsley 2010

  • No more worrying about whether or not I will eat the, uh ...slow roasted manticore or spicy phoenix curry or bbq dragon spare ribs.

    Book Review: The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals girliejones 2010

  • I battled a manticore every night for most of my life.

    The Three Furies Kaza Kingsley 2010

  • Erec bared his teeth at the thing and growled, holding his hands out like claws, and the manticore stepped back.

    The Three Furies Kaza Kingsley 2010

  • No more worrying about whether or not I will eat the, uh ...slow roasted manticore or spicy phoenix curry or bbq dragon spare ribs.

    Book Review: The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals girliejones 2010

  • Kyron glanced back and forth between the manticore and a group of zombies that was coming closer.

    The Three Furies Kaza Kingsley 2010

  • Before her eyes, the manticore began changing, and then she was staring down into the slanty eyes of a humongous, serpentine python.

    Artemis the Brave Joan Holub 2010

  • He stabbed the manticore again and again, pushing it away.

    The Three Furies Kaza Kingsley 2010

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