portuguese man-of-war

Portuguese man-of-war

P p

Definitions of portuguese man-of-war words

noun portuguese man-of-war any of several large, oceanic hydrozoans of the genus Physalia, having a large, bladderlike structure with a saillike crest by which they are buoyed up and from which dangle tentacles with stinging cells. 1
noun portuguese man-of-war any of several large complex colonial hydrozoans of the genus Physalia, esp P. physalis, having an aerial float and long stinging tentacles: order Siphonophora 0
noun portuguese man-of-war any of a genus (Physalia) of large, colonial, warm-sea siphonophores having a large, bladderlike sac, with a sail-like structure on top, which enables them to float on the water, and long, dangling tentacles that have powerful stinging cells 0

before 1700

One of the 50% oldest English words

First recorded in 1700-10

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 7% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.

According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

Was this page helpful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page

Tell us why?