Adjacent Words

devilfish definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: medium-sized greyish-black whale of the northern Pacific [syn: grey whale, gray whale, devilfish, Eschrichtius gibbosus, Eschrichtius robustus]
2: bottom-living cephalopod having a soft oval body with eight long tentacles [syn: octopus, devilfish]
3: extremely large pelagic tropical ray that feeds on plankton and small fishes; usually harmless but its size make it dangerous if harpooned [syn: manta, manta ray, devilfish]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1709 1. manta ray 2. octopus; broadly any large cephalopod

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. same or -fishes) 1 = devil ray. 2 any of various fish, esp. the stonefish. 3 hist. an octopus.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Devilfish Dev"il*fish`, n. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A huge ray (Manta birostris or Cephaloptera vampyrus) of the Gulf of Mexico and Southern Atlantic coasts. Several other related species take the same name. See Cephaloptera. (b) A large cephalopod, especially the very large species of Octopus and Architeuthis. See Octopus. (c) The gray whale of the Pacific coast. See Gray whale. (d) The goosefish or angler (Lophius), and other allied fishes. See Angler.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cephaloptera Ceph`a*lop"te*ra, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? head + ? wing.] (Zo["o]l.) One of the generic names of the gigantic ray (Manta birostris), known as devilfish and sea devil. It is common on the coasts of South Carolina, Florida, and farther south. Some of them grow to enormous size, becoming twenty feet of more across the body, and weighing more than a ton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gray Gray, a. [Compar. Grayer; superl. Grayest.] [OE. gray, grey, AS. gr[=ae]g, gr[=e]g; akin to D. graauw, OHG. gr[=a]o, G. grau, Dan. graa, Sw. gr[*a], Icel. gr[=a]r.] [Written also grey.] 1. White mixed with black, as the color of pepper and salt, or of ashes, or of hair whitened by age; sometimes, a dark mixed color; as, the soft gray eye of a dove. These gray and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks. --Sir I. Newton. 2. Gray-haired; gray-headed; of a gray color; hoary. 3. Old; mature; as, gray experience. Ames. Gray antimony (Min.), stibnite. Gray buck (Zo["o]l.), the chickara. Gray cobalt (Min.), smaltite. Gray copper (Min.), tetrahedrite. Gray duck (Zo["o]l.), the gadwall; also applied to the female mallard. Gray falcon (Zo["o]l.) the peregrine falcon. Gray Friar. See Franciscan, and Friar. Gray hen (Zo["o]l.), the female of the blackcock or black grouse. See Heath grouse. Gray mill or millet (Bot.), a name of several plants of the genus Lithospermum; gromwell. Gray mullet (Zo["o]l.) any one of the numerous species of the genus Mugil, or family Mugilid[ae], found both in the Old World and America; as the European species (M. capito, and M. auratus), the American striped mullet (M. albula), and the white or silver mullet (M. Braziliensis). See Mullet. Gray owl (Zo["o]l.), the European tawny or brown owl (Syrnium aluco). The great gray owl (Ulula cinerea) inhabits arctic America. Gray parrot (Zo["o]l.), a parrot (Psittacus erithacus), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its aptness in learning to talk. Gray pike. (Zo["o]l.) See Sauger. Gray snapper (Zo["o]l.), a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See Snapper. Gray snipe (Zo["o]l.), the dowitcher in winter plumage. Gray whale (Zo["o]l.), a rather large and swift California whale (Rhachianectes glaucus), formerly taken in large numbers in the bays; -- called also grayback, devilfish, and hardhead.