Cerberus

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cerberus \Cer"be*rus\, n. [L. Cerberus (in sense 1), gr. ?.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Class. Myth.) A monster, in the shape of a three-headed
        dog, guarding the entrance into the infernal regions,
        Hence: Any vigilant custodian or guardian, esp. if surly.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. (Zool.) A genus of East Indian serpents, allied to the
        pythons; the bokadam.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Cerberus
       n : (Greek mythology) 3-headed dog guarding the entrance to
           Hades; son of Typhon [syn: {hellhound}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  25 Moby Thesaurus words for "Cerberus":
     Aides, Aidoneus, Charon, Cora, Despoina, Dis, Dis pater, Erebus,
     Hades, Hel, Kore, Loki, Minos, Orcus, Osiris, Persephassa,
     Persephone, Pluto, Proserpina, Proserpine, Rhadamanthus, Satan,
     bandog, guard dog, watchdog
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  CERBERUS, n.  The watch-dog of Hades, whose duty it was to guard the
  entrance -- against whom or what does not clearly appear; everybody,
  sooner or later, had to go there, and nobody wanted to carry off the
  entrance.  Cerberus is known to have had three heads, and some of the
  poets have credited him with as many as a hundred.  Professor
  Graybill, whose clerky erudition and profound knowledge of Greek give
  his opinion great weight, has averaged all the estimates, and makes
  the number twenty-seven -- a judgment that would be entirely
  conclusive is Professor Graybill had known (a) something about dogs,
  and (b) something about arithmetic.