sphinx

noun

1. A creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal, commonly a lion.

   “[W]hatsoe'er of strange / Sculptured on alabaster obelisk, / Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphynx, / Dark Æthiopia in her desert hills. / Conceals.”

2. (figuratively)A person who keeps their thoughts and intentions secret; an enigmatic or impassive person.

   “...it is clear that judges are no longer required to be as passive as they once were; to be what I call sphinx judges. We now not only accept that a judge may intervene in the adversarial debate, but also believe that it is sometimes essential for him to do so for justice in fact to be done.”

3. (dated)A mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), formerly classified as a baboon, and called sphinx baboon.
4. A sphinx moth.
5. (euphemistic, rare)A sphincter.

   “Constance said boastfully, ‘My sphinxes are strong and in good repair. I order you to come.’”

6. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of sphinx (“a sculpture representing the Theban Sphinx”)

   “In the third, which leadeth to the fonts and walkes, are two Sphinges very curiouſly carued in braſſe […]”

verb

1. (transitive)To decorate with sphinxes.

   “a marble sphinxed chimney-piece”

2. (intransitive, transitive)To adopt the posture of the Sphinx.

   “A hot lion with a very bloated stomach … will adopt either a sphinxed or a squatting posture which takes some of the weight off its belly.”

   “Several animals maintained either a crouched … or a sphinxing posture (abdomen on the floor)”

3. (intransitive, transitive)To be inscrutable, often through silence.

   “The sphinxèd riddle of the Universe, Nature's unsolved enigma, who may prove?”

   “Then there are the folks trying to do a Garbo on us[…]Janet Gaynor, so they tell, is sphinxing it and has gone into a Retirement, with "Nothing to Say — Please Go Away" written on the doormat.”

   “What with Fisher whole-hogging on one side, and K. of K. sphinxing on the other, Churchill had his work cut out to get any sort of agreement at all.”

4. (intransitive)To behave in a manner characteristic of the Sphinx.

   “Perhaps Nature is sphinxing us on purpose. Whatever her objects may be, perhaps she gets her work done better when she appeals to our gambling instincts. If you knew for certain exactly how your marriage was going to turn out[…]”

name

1. An ancient, large statue in Egypt, with the face of a man and the body of a lion, lying near the Great Pyramids.
2. (Greek)One of the many offspring of Typhon and Echidna, a winged lion-like creature with a woman's face, who dwelt near the city of Thebes in Boeotia and terrorized travelers by posing riddles, killing those who failed to answer correctly; after Oedipus solved her riddle, she committed suicide out of frustration.