[besh-duh-mair, beysh-] 
) bêche-de-mer for 1. | 1. | a trepang. |
| 2. | Often, Bêche-de-Mer. Neo-Melanesian. |
[nee-oh-mel-uh-nee-zhuhn, -shuhn] | a pidgin language based on English and spoken in Melanesia, New Guinea, and NE Australia. |
| bêche-de-mer (běsh'də-mâr') n. pl. bêches-de-mer (běsh'də-mâr') See trepang. [French, alteration (influenced by bêche, grub) of biche-de-mer, from Portuguese bicho do mar : bicho, worm (from Late Latin bēstulus, diminutive of Latin bēstia, beast) + do, of the + mar, sea (from Latin mare; see mori- in Indo-European roots).] |
| Bêche-de-Mer (běsh' də-mâr') n. See Bislama. [From the commercial importance of bêche-de-mer where the language is spoken.] |
| Bis·la·ma (bĭs-lä'mə) n. A lingua franca based on Malay and English, spoken in the southwest Pacific, especially in the Papua New Guinea area. Also called Beach-la-Mar, Bêche-de-Mer. [Pidgin or native variant of Bêche-de-Mer.] |
| tre·pang (trĭ-pāng') n. A sea cucumber of the genus Holothuria of the southern Pacific and Indian oceans, dried or smoked for use as an ingredient in soup, especially in China and Indonesia. Also called bêche-de-mer. [Malay teripang.] |
beche-de-mer
boiled, dried, and smoked flesh of sea cucumbers (phylum Echinodermata) used to make soups. Most beche-de-mer comes from the southwestern Pacific, where the animals (any of a dozen species of the genera Holothuria, Stichopus, and Thelonota) are obtained on coral reefs. Beche-de-mer is consumed chiefly in China.
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