Definition of "hamadryad" [ham•a•dry•ad]

• Greek & Roman Mythology A wood nymph who lives only as long as the tree of which she is the spirit lives. (noun)
• See king cobra. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "So in some vague way Charlie felt he had to go and say that to the tree, as if his father lived hi it like a god damned hamadryad or something; he found it very embarrassing to remember the thing at all, but he remembered, he remembered."
• "Not only does it happen in poetry, but common people often go farther than the poet and begin believing in the hamadryad in the wood or the spirit of the waters."
• "The dread hamadryad leered at him; poisonous toads and lizards scurried for cover."