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cowfish - 4 dictionary results

cow⋅fish

  [kou-fish]
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–noun, plural (especially collectively) -fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) -fish⋅es.
1. any of several marine fishes having hornlike projections over the eyes, esp. a trunkfish, Lactophrys guadricornus, found in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
2. a sirenian, as the manatee.
3. any of various small cetaceans, as a porpoise or dolphin or the grampus, Grampus griseus.
Origin:
1625–35; cow 1 + fish
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cow·fish   (kou'fĭsh')   
n.   pl. cowfish or cow·fish·es
  1. Any of various small whales, porpoises, or similar aquatic mammals, especially a whale of the genus Mesoplodon, having a pointed snout.
  2. Any of various marine fishes of the family Ostraciidae, especially Lactophrys quadricornis of warm Atlantic waters, having hornlike spines over each eye.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cowfish

Cow"fish`\ (-f?ch`), n. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The grampus. (b) A California dolphin (Tursiops Gillii). (c) A marine plectognath fish (Ostracoin quadricorne, and allied species), having two projections, like horns, in front; -- called also cuckold, coffer fish, trunkfish.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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cowfish

any of a small group of shallow-water marine fishes of the family Ostraciontidae (or Ostraciidae), distinguished by a hard, boxlike, protective carapace covering most of the body. The alternative name cowfish refers to the hornlike projections on the heads of some species. The members of the family, found along the bottom in warm and tropical seas throughout the world, are considered good to eat and are often dried as curios.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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