Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various herbivorous aquatic mammals of the genus Trichechus, having paddlelike front flippers and a horizontally flattened tail and found in warm coastal waters of Florida, northern South America, West Africa, and the Caribbean.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A sea-cow; a gregarious herbivorous aquatic sirenian mammal, of the genus Manatus, family Manatidœ, and order Sirenia.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any species of Trichechus, a genus of sirenians; -- called also
sea cow .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of several plant-eating marine
mammals , of familyTrichechidae , found in tropical regions.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun sirenian mammal of tropical coastal waters of America; the flat tail is rounded
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Whiskers the manatee is an ambassador for his imperiled species.
Sharing in the USA 2008
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Needless to say, Debbie, the manatee is better looking & less obese than you.
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Granted, there are sirenian workers who have, indeed, suggested that Atlantic rifting might explain manatee distribution … but, those workers were publishing their papers in the early years of the 20th century (Arldt 1907)!
Archive 2006-01-01 Darren Naish 2006
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This belief in mermen, possible originating with the caricatures of the human face in the intelligent seal and stupid manatee, is universal.
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On this coast there was also a particular kind of fish called manatee, which is most excellent eating, and the flesh is more like beef than fish; the scales are as large as a shilling, and the skin thicker than I ever saw that of any other fish.
The Life of Olaudah Equiano Or Gustavus Vassa The African Equiano, Olaudah 1789
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On this coast there was also a particular kind of fifth called manatee, which is most excellent eating, and the flesh is more like beef than fish; the scales are as large as a shilling, and the skin thicker than I ever saw that of any other fish.
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OF FISH & WILDLIFE: Exposure to water temperatures below 68 degrees for long periods of time can lead to a condition called manatee cold stress syndrome, that can eventually lead to death.
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Exposure to water temperatures below 68 degrees for long periods of time can lead to a condition called manatee cold stress syndrome.
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The manatee has been the subject of just 14, and academic neglect may be a vital factor in its currently parlous position.
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The dugong and the manatee are the descendants of vegetarian hoofed animals; seals, sea-lions and walruses are the descendants of carnivorous animals; beavers are the cousins of purely terrestrial rodents.
DOLPHINS WHALES APES AND MEN News from Mad Plato 2009
yarb commented on the word manatee
At the Zoo on 19.5.39. Much interest in the manatee, which I had only vaguely heard of before. An animal about the size of a large seal, with broad tail behind & two flippers of some kind in front. The head is doglike, with small eyes, the surface of the body seems like that of an elephant, but is slimy from being in the water. Movement very sluggish. The peculiar feature is the mouth, which is fringed with large hairs & acts with a kind of sucking movement to draw food in. The creature is very tame & lets itself be touched. It appears that this is the only vegetarian water-mammal. Could not be sure whether it inhabits fresh or salt water or both.
- George Orwell, diary entry, 21-5-39.
May 25, 2009