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sea cow

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noun
  1. any sirenian, as the manatee or dugong.
  2. Obsolete. the hippopotamus.

Origin of sea cow

First recorded in 1605–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sea cow

Historical Examples

  • The way it held the sea-cow gave us a notion of its immense strength.

    On the Banks of the Amazon

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • Squier and Davis, who first figured it, supposed it to represent a manatee, or sea-cow.

  • I wonder if Bob has any idea of the size of a manatee or sea-cow?

  • It was named from the sea-cow, which was found there, and used as an article of food.

  • The sea-cow is one of these animals; the last specimens of which were seen in 1767 and 1768.

British Dictionary definitions for sea cow

sea cow

noun
  1. any sirenian mammal, such as a dugong or manatee
  2. an archaic name for walrus
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