blenny

[ blen-ee ]

noun,plural blen·nies.
  1. any of several fishes of the family Blenniidae and related families, especially of the genus Blennius, having a long, tapering body and small pelvic fins inserted before the pectoral fins.

Origin of blenny

1
1745–55; <Latin blennius a kind of fish <Greek blénnos slime, mucus; so called from its slimy coating

Words Nearby blenny

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blenny in a sentence

  • The Large blenny (B. gattorugine) inhabits deeper water, chiefly off the south-west coast, and reaches a length of a foot or more.

    The Sea Shore | William S. Furneaux
  • He describes how in the embryo of the blenny there is a short, thick arch between the first gill-slit and the mouth.

    Form and Function | E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
  • A curious little blenny-fish swarms in the numerous creeks which intersect the mangrove topes.

  • It was a small fish—a familiar fish, too—which he had known in the pools of his native land by the name of blenny.

    Black Ivory | R.M. Ballantyne
  • Seeing that the coast was clear, for Disco stood as motionless as a mangrove tree, blenny hopped upon the dry land.

    Black Ivory | R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for blenny

blenny

/ (ˈblɛnɪ) /


nounplural -nies
  1. any blennioid fish of the family Blenniidae of coastal waters, esp of the genus Blennius, having a tapering scaleless body, a long dorsal fin, and long raylike pelvic fins

  2. any of various related fishes

Origin of blenny

1
C18: from Latin blennius, from Greek blennos slime; from the mucus that coats its body

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012