blenny
Americannoun
-
blennies
plural
noun
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any blennioid fish of the family Blenniidae of coastal waters, esp of the genus Blennius , having a tapering scaleless body, a long dorsal fin, and long raylike pelvic fins
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any of various related fishes
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of blenny
1745–55; < Latin blennius a kind of fish < Greek blénnos slime, mucus; so called from its slimy coating
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:
What, we wonder, is the character of this sea lion; what kind of individual is this hammerhead shark; what is on the mind of this blenny?
From New York Times ● Nov. 25, 2019
This made the fang blenny a curiosity; the scientists knew it to be venomous, but set out to understand how and why its bite was painless.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2017
In the biodiverse realm of coral reefs, other species also "mimic" the fang blenny - developing similar striped patterns and bright colours that may fool predators into thinking that they too are opioid-laced.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2017
"The fang blenny would simply swim out of the mouth and escape."
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2017
They are in general oviparous, or egg-producing; but there are a few, such as the eel and the blenny, which are viviparous, or produce their young alive.
From The Book of Household Management by Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton
"On the seabed of the river Fal, Cornwall, amongst beautiful pink maerl, many blennies have chosen to use discarded glass bottles as a shelter."
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2024
It opened in 1934 near the Ballard Locks, featuring Alaska stickleback, pipe fish, yellow-banded perch, blennies and cultus cod, according to HistoryLink.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
"They took the fang blennies into their mouths, then quickly started quivering and opened their mouths again," Dr Casewell described.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2017
In his initial research, Dr Casewell read fang blenny studies carried out in the 1970s, where larger, predatory fish were "introduced" to the fang blennies.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2017
Some few fish, indeed, are truly viviparous; among them certain blennies and carps, in which the eggs hatch out entirely within the body of the mother.
From Science in Arcady by Grant Allen
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.
