paper nautilus
any dibranchiate cephalopod of the genus Argonauta, the female of which has a delicate, white shell.
Origin of paper nautilus
1Words Nearby paper nautilus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use paper nautilus in a sentence
The argonaut, or paper-nautilus, must be carefully distinguished from the pearly-nautilus or nautilus proper (Nautilus Pompilius).
I here also saw numbers of the paper nautilus floating on the calm surface of the water.
Peter Trawl | W. H. G. KingstonIt is often found attached to the shell of the paper nautilus, which it is said to use as a sail.
The paper-nautilus (Argonauta argo) belongs to a different family of the same class, and has a simple, delicate, boat-like shell.
The Sailor's Word-Book | William Henry SmythWe need not trouble ourselves about the distinction between this and the paper nautilus, the Argonauta of the ancients.
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table | Oliver Wendell Holmes
British Dictionary definitions for paper nautilus
any cephalopod mollusc of the genus Argonauta, esp A. argo, of warm and tropical seas, having a papery external spiral shell: order Octopoda (octopods): Also called: argonaut Compare pearly nautilus
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
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