harpy

Etymology

Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek Ἅρπυια (Hárpuia, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “I snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.

noun

1. (mythology) A mythological creature generally depicted as a bird-of-prey with the head of maiden, a face pale with hunger and long claws on her hands personifying the destructive power of storm winds.
2. (derogatory) A shrewish woman.
   But her most subtle wiles proved ineffectual in ridding her, even for a moment, of her harpy jailer[…] 1927, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Outlaw of Torn, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008
   […] Ed Miliband has yet to come up with a definition of “the squeezed middle” that excludes anyone, but you can bet your bottom dollar he has these laptop-wielding harpies in mind. 2011-03-17, Toby Young, “Mumsnet isn't representative of the 'squeezed middle'. It's just a bunch of Guardian-reading, laptop-wielding harpies”, in The Telegraph, archived from the original on 2011-03-20
3. One who is rapacious or ravenous; an extortioner.
   c. 1772, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs. Bunbury The harpies about me all pocket the pool.
4. The European moor buzzard or marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus).
5. A large and powerful double-crested, short-winged American eagle (Harpia harpyja).