remora

[ rem-er-uh ]

noun
  1. any of several fishes of the family Echeneididae, having on the top of the head a sucking disk by which they can attach themselves to sharks, turtles, ships, and other moving objects.

  2. Archaic. an obstacle, hindrance, or obstruction.

Origin of remora

1
1560–70; <Latin: literally, delay, hindrance, derivative of remorārī to linger, delay, equivalent to re-re- + morārī to delay

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

How to use remora in a sentence

  • And sharks meant pilot-fish, and remoras, and various sorts of parasitic creatures.

  • We ate also pilot fish, and remoras; in fact, the sea yielded up its creatures abundantly to our larder.

  • We found many remoras inside the gills of swordfish, and their presence there was evidence of their blood-sucking tendencies.

    Tales of Fishes | Zane Grey
  • I used to search every swordfish for these remoras, and I would keep them in a bucket till we got to our anchorage.

    Tales of Fishes | Zane Grey

British Dictionary definitions for remora

remora

/ (ˈrɛmərə) /


noun
  1. any of the marine spiny-finned fishes constituting the family Echeneidae . They have a flattened elongated body and attach themselves to larger fish, rocks, etc, by a sucking disc on the top of the head

Origin of remora

1
C16: from Latin, from re- + mora delay; an allusion to its alleged habit of delaying ships

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