sea fan


noun
  1. any of certain anthozoans, especially Gorgonia flabellum, of the West Indies, in which the colony assumes a fanlike form.

Origin of sea fan

1
First recorded in 1625–35

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

How to use sea fan in a sentence

  • Down I went, and I came right down on a small sea-fan, which I grabbed instantly.

    A Jolly Fellowship | Frank R. Stockton
  • In Fig. 43 we have the sea fan magnified to twice its natural size, showing the curious details of its organization.

    The Ocean World: | Louis Figuier
  • The network of its interstices with its unequal and serried meshes, resembling fine lace, have led to its designation of sea fan.

    The Ocean World: | Louis Figuier

British Dictionary definitions for sea fan

sea fan

noun
  1. any of various corals of the genus Gorgonia and related genera, having a treelike or fan-shaped horny skeleton: order Gorgonacea (gorgonians)

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