Adjacent Words

dugong definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: sirenian tusked mammal found from eastern Africa to Australia; the flat tail is bilobate [syn: dugong, Dugong dugon]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: New Latin, genus name, probably from dugung in Cebuano or a related Austronesian language of the central Philippines Date: 1800 a sirenian mammal (Dugong dugon of the family Dugongidae) of a monotypic genus that has a bilobed tail and in the male upper incisors altered into short tusks and that inhabits warm coastal waters chiefly of southern Asia, Australia, and northeastern Africa

Britannica Concise

Large marine mammal (Dugong dugon, the sole living member of the family Dugongidae) that lives in shallow coastal waters from the Red Sea and E Africa to the Philippines, New Guinea, and N Australia. It is 7-11 ft (2.2-3.4 m) long and usually weighs 500-800 lbs (230-360 kg). Its round, tapered body ends in a flipper with paired, pointed, horizontal branches. The forelimbs are rounded flippers; there are no hind limbs. The head blends into the body, and the snout is broad, square, and bristled. Dugongs live in pairs or in groups of up to six individuals. Once heavily hunted for their meat, hides, and oil, they are now protected throughout most of their range, though some populations remain in danger of extermination. See also manatee, sea cow.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. same or dugongs) a marine mammal, Dugong dugon, of Asian seas and coasts. Also called sea cow. Etymology: ult. f. Malay duyong

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dugong Du*gong", n. [Malayan d?y?ng, or Javan. duyung.] (Zo["o]l.) An aquatic herbivorous mammal (Halicore dugong), of the order Sirenia, allied to the manatee, but with a bilobed tail. It inhabits the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, East Indies, and Australia. [Written also duyong.]