Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The collection of microscopic and small organisms that inhabit the region on or just below the surface of a body of water.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology All the organisms that live at the surface of water

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek neuston, neuter of neustos, swimming, from nein, to swim; see (s)nāu- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek νευστός ("swimming").

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Examples

  • And we have studies looking at organisms from sponges to sharks, looking at the food chain, both on the bottom of the ocean and also on the extreme layer of - a very thin layer called the neuston, the very surface of the ocean.

    Assessing The BP Spill's Impact 2010

  • And we have studies looking at organisms from sponges to sharks, looking at the food chain, both on the bottom of the ocean and also on the extreme layer of - a very thin layer called the neuston, the very surface of the ocean.

    Assessing The BP Spill's Impact 2010

  • And we have studies looking at organisms from sponges to sharks, looking at the food chain, both on the bottom of the ocean and also on the extreme layer of - a very thin layer called the neuston, the very surface of the ocean.

    Assessing The BP Spill's Impact 2010

  • And we have studies looking at organisms from sponges to sharks, looking at the food chain, both on the bottom of the ocean and also on the extreme layer of - a very thin layer called the neuston, the very surface of the ocean.

    Assessing The BP Spill's Impact 2010

  • And we have studies looking at organisms from sponges to sharks, looking at the food chain, both on the bottom of the ocean and also on the extreme layer of - a very thin layer called the neuston, the very surface of the ocean.

    Assessing The BP Spill's Impact 2010

  • And we have studies looking at organisms from sponges to sharks, looking at the food chain, both on the bottom of the ocean and also on the extreme layer of - a very thin layer called the neuston, the very surface of the ocean.

    Assessing The BP Spill's Impact 2010

Comments

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  • Now Big Oil’s determined to drill

    In waters that can’t risk a spill

    The poison is loosed on

    The delicate neustron

    To suffocate, wither and kill.

    March 11, 2018