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• Loch Ness monster
  Loch Ness monster

  noun

  a large aquatic animal resembling a serpent or a plesiosaurlike reptile, reported to have been seen in the waters of Loch Ness, Scotland, but not proved to exist.
• Loch Ness Monster
  Loch Ness Monster

  A gigantic, humped, dragonlike creature thought to inhabit the icy depths of Loch Ness, a lake in north-central Scotland. Periodic sightings of “Nessie” have been alleged since the early 1930s (though the legend of such a creature dates to the seventh century), but the monster remains elusive.

Loch Ness monster

American  

noun

1. a large aquatic animal resembling a serpent or a plesiosaurlike reptile, reported to have been seen in the waters of Loch Ness, Scotland, but not proved to exist.

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Loch Ness Monster Cultural  

1. A gigantic, humped, dragonlike creature thought to inhabit the icy depths of Loch Ness, a lake in north-central Scotland. Periodic sightings of “Nessie” have been alleged since the early 1930s (though the legend of such a creature dates to the seventh century), but the monster remains elusive.

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Etymology

Origin of Loch Ness monster

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

As an X-file from an earlier era, when fringe theories about UFOs, crop circles or the Loch Ness monster were quarantined as tabloid fodder, the lore around the wilderness footage seems quaint by today’s standards.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

The mystery of the fabled Loch Ness monster endures despite a weekend of mass-participation Nessie hunting.

From BBC • Aug. 27, 2023

Robert Wilson, took what became the most famous photo of the Loch Ness monster in 1934.

From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2022

After studying DNA in water collected from Loch Ness, scientist Neil Gemmell has proven that many ideas about the Loch Ness monster simply aren’t possible.

From NewsForKids.net • Jan. 20, 2022

“My sister. Her name was Skye. She drowned when I was only two. She was eleven. We were at Loch Ness when it happened, on holiday. You know, of Loch Ness monster fame?”

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy