bêche-de-mer

[ besh-duh-mair, beysh- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural bêch·es-de-mer, (especially collectively) bêche-de-mer

bêche-de-mer

/ ˌbɛʃdəˈmɛə /

1805–15; erroneously for French biche de mer < Portuguese bicho do mar literally, animal of the sea; Beach-la-Mar

C19: quasi-French, from earlier English biche de mer , from Portuguese bicho do mar worm of the sea

Before they left, they presented me with a quantity of bêche-de-mer, or sea-slugs, which make most excellent soup.

Certainly he had found them without the almost universal bêche-de-mer English of the west South Pacific.

This fact seems to be against the opinion, that the nests are composed of the spawn of fish, or of bêche-de-mer.

I fancy some of the Tahiti schooners trade here for pearl, shells, and bêche-de-mer.

One of his tambos (tambo being bêche-de-mer and Melanesian for “taboo”) was that water unavoidable must never touch his skin.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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