benthos
Americannoun
noun
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the animals and plants living at the bottom of a sea or lake
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the bottom of a sea or lake
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The bottom of a sea or lake.
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The organisms living on sea or lake bottoms. The benthos are divided into sessile organisms (those that are attached to the bottom or to objects on or near the bottom) and vagrant organisms (those that crawl or swim along the bottom).
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of benthos
1890–95; < Greek bénthos depth (of the sea); akin to bathos, bathy-
Vocabulary lists containing benthos
Earth Science - High School
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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.
She belongs to the Marine Benthos Research Group, which studies the impacts of climate change and pollution on macroalgae communities.
From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2024
Benthos, organisms that live near the ocean floor, nourish walruses, diving ducks, gray whales, bearded seals and various fish.
From Washington Post • Aug. 22, 2011
Sam Raymond, a mechanical engineer from M.I.T. and the founder of Benthos in North Falmouth, the world's leading maker of oceanographic equipment, suggests that Massachusetts has an equation for success.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
