scylla

noun

1. Modern name Scilla. a rock in the Strait of Messina off the S coast of Italy.
2. Classical Mythology. a sea nymph who was transformed into a sea monster: later identified with the rock Scylla.Compare Charybdis(def 2).

Idioms

3. between Scylla and Charybdis, between two equally perilous alternatives, neither of which can be passed without encountering and probably falling victim to the other.

noun

1. Greek myth a sea nymph transformed into a sea monster believed to drown sailors navigating the Strait of Messina. She was identified with a rock off the Italian coastCompare Charybdis
2. between Scylla and Charybdis in a predicament in which avoidance of either of two dangers means exposure to the other

n.sea-monster in the Strait of Messina, from Latinized form of Greek Skylla, of unknown origin, perhaps related to skyllein “to tear.” see between a rock and a hard place (Scylla and Charybdis).