dugong
an herbivorous, aquatic mammal, Dugong dugon, of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, having a barrel-shaped body, flipperlike forelimbs, no hind limbs, and a triangular tail: widespread but rare.
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Origin of dugong
1Words Nearby dugong
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dugong in a sentence
Of marine mammals the dugong is peculiar to the Indian Ocean; in the Ganges is found a peculiar species of dolphin.
Again, the dugong and Manatee are dermally alike, yet extremely different as regards the structure and number of their teeth.
On the Genesis of Species | St. George MivartThe latter country possesses an organised dugong fishery, which bids fair to exterminate this harmless animal.
Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon | Robert A. SterndaleWhen the female dugong is nursing her offspring the position assumed is almost identical with that of a human mother.
Myth-Land | F. Edward HulmeIn neither Manatee nor dugong is there any trace of an acetabulum but one can be made out in Halitherium.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
British Dictionary definitions for dugong
/ (ˈduːɡɒŋ) /
a whalelike sirenian mammal, Dugong dugon, occurring in shallow tropical waters from E Africa to Australia: family Dugongidae
Origin of dugong
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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