kelp

American  

[kelp] / kɛlp /

noun

• kelps
  plural

1. any large, brown, cold-water seaweed of the family Laminariaceae, used as food and in various manufacturing processes.

2. a bed or mass of such seaweeds.

3. the ash of these seaweeds.

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verb (used without object)

1. to burn these seaweeds for their ash.

kelp British  

/ kɛlp /

noun

1. any large brown seaweed, esp any in the order Laminariales

2. the ash of such seaweed, used as a source of iodine and potash

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kelp Scientific  

/ kĕlp /

1. Any of various brown, often very large seaweeds that grow in colder ocean regions. Kelps are varieties of brown algae of the order Laminariales, with some species growing over 61 m (200 ft) long. Kelps are harvested as food (primarily in eastern Asia), as fertilizer, and for their sodium and potassium salts, used in industrial processes. Kelps are also a source of thickening agents and colloid stabilizers used in many commercial products.

2. See more at brown alga

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• kelps
  plural

Etymology

Origin of kelp

1350–1400; apparently dialectal variant of Middle English culp < ?

Explanation

Kelp is a common type of seaweed. You might encounter kelp scuba diving in the ocean, or even while diving into your miso soup. Kelp is a plant that grows in the ocean which you'll often see on the beach at low tide or waving in the water. Many people eat different forms of kelp too — in Japan, two popular edible seaweeds are arame and kombu, both types of kelp that you've probably tasted if you've dined on miso soup. Kelp comes from the Middle English culpe, but its earlier origins are a mystery.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kelp kelps

Past marine heat waves have decimated California’s kelp, “with bull kelp habitats declining 90% in Northern California since 2014,” Jaros said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

Made from recycled plastics and ceramic magnets, it’s designed to mimic a dense kelp forest, which is a natural barrier for sharks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026

Others are much larger and multicellular, such as kelp, slime molds, and red algae.

From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026

People assume it's rubbery, but that's Pacific kelp - Japanese kombu.

From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026

Barbie’s pink-lipstick smile beams through the water, her long hair floating around her like a tangle of white-blond kelp.

From "Rules" by Cynthia Lord

Now, we show the kelps were there, it's just that all the organisms that you expect to be associated with them were not.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 16, 2024

You’ll also encounter a prism of marine plants such as varying kelps.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2024

The kelps growing there accumulated two times less biomass.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 6, 2021

“If we go down to zero kelps, then trying to restore them is a huge amount of work,” she said.

From New York Times ● Oct. 4, 2021

The marine variety are familiar as the brown kelps and the wracks, which are very common along our Northern coast.

From The Home Medical Library, Volume V (of VI) by Kenelm Winslow

Related Words

• seaweed