stingray
Americannoun
-
stingrays
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of stingray
Explanation
Stingrays are sea creatures that are closely related to sharks. If you're snorkeling in the Cayman Islands and see a large, flattened fish with a long tail and eyes on top of its body, you're looking at a stingray. Like their shark cousins, stingrays have cartilage instead of bones; stingrays look completely different from sharks, though. Stingrays' bodies are shaped like a rounded diamond, and their gills are on their underside. Their venomous tails are dangerous, giving them the sting part of their name—but most stingrays are shy and docile, and safe to swim near as long as you don't step on them.
Vocabulary lists containing stingray
Marine Biology - Introductory
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Marine Biology - Middle School
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Marine Biology - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Avoid the next encounter with a stingray or jellyfish, and instead explore the depths of the news in this week’s Slate News Quiz.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2025
The inside of a myliobatid stingray tail is remarkably complex, the scientists learned.
From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2025
His biggest fear was being stung by a stingray while fighting the current as he was dragging his kayak over rapids.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2024
Thursday’s statement from the Aquarium and Shark Lab in Hendersonville did not say what disease the stingray, Charlotte, has or comment on the status of her pregnancy.
From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024
Not a stingray, not a manta ray, but an electric ray.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
We can only hope that, through snakes, stingrays, slings and arrows, Paul Rosolie is spared to continue his quest to preserve it for all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
There are also interactive touch pools for invertebrates and stingrays.
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2025
“We see everything from strokes to stingrays, to jellyfish, to golf cart rollovers to heart attacks,” said Paret.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
Round stingrays like Charlotte are abundant on the Pacific coasts of southern California and Mexico, often resting on the ocean’s sandy bottom near the shoreline.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
Humans and chimpanzees and meerkats and stingrays can read body language by instinct without having to learn it.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
