Sphinx, the BrE AmE
1 . the Great Sphinx a large, very ancient sphinx which is close to the Pyramids of El Giza in Egypt and is visited by many tourists
2 . in Greek ↑ mythology , a creature with the head of a woman and the body of a lion. She lay outside Thebes and killed people who could not answer her ↑ riddle (=very difficult question) . Oedipus answered the riddle, and the Sphinx killed herself.