starfish

[ stahr-fish ]

noun,plural (especially collectively) star·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) star·fish·es.
  1. any echinoderm of the class Asteroidea, having the body radially arranged, usually in the form of a star, with five or more rays or arms radiating from a central disk; asteroid.

Origin of starfish

1
First recorded in 1530–40; star + fish

Words Nearby starfish

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

How to use starfish in a sentence

  • Scientists blame mostly the Crown of Thorns killer starfish.

  • On the rocks and sand at the bottom starfish and crabs crawled slowly along or clung to some stone.

    Stories of California | Ella M. Sexton
  • The oyster, tight in his shelly fortress, seems safe from the attack of a weak starfish.

    On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith
  • Ask any fisherman what he thinks of the "harmless" starfish, and he will call it a pest and a nuisance.

    On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith
  • The mouth of the starfish opens into a kind of bag which slips between the oyster shells.

    On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith
  • The starfish merely presses the mussel into its mouth, cleans out the shells, and throws them away.

    On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith

British Dictionary definitions for starfish

starfish

/ (ˈstɑːˌfɪʃ) /


nounplural -fish or -fishes
  1. any echinoderm of the class Asteroidea, such as Asterias rubens, typically having a flattened body covered with a flexible test and five arms radiating from a central disc

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

Scientific definitions for starfish

starfish

[ stärfĭsh′ ]


  1. Any of various marine echinoderms of the class Asteroidea, having a star-shaped body usually with five arms. The arms have rows of little suckers on the undersides, called tube feet, with which the animal moves around and grasps prey. Many species extrude their stomach onto prey and digest it externally. Starfish can grow new arms if any are lost, and in one species, a whole individual can be regenerated from a single piece of arm. Starfish are related to sea urchins and sea cucumbers.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.