(also chimaera) n. 1 (in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. 2 a fantastic or grotesque product of the imagination; a bogey. 3 any fabulous beast with parts taken from various animals. 4 Biol. a an organism containing genetically different tissues, formed by grafting, mutation, etc. b a nucleic acid formed by laboratory manipulation. 5 any cartilaginous fish of the family Chimaeridae, usu. having a long tapering caudal fin. chimeric adj. chimerical adj. chimerically adv.
[ L f. Gk khimaira she-goat, chimera ]