madrepore

American  

[mad-ruh-pawr, -pohr] / ˈmæd rəˌpɔr, -ˌpoʊr /

noun

1. any true or stony coral of the order Madreporaria, forming reefs or islands in tropical seas.

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madrepore British  

/ ˌmædrɪˈpɔː /

noun

1. any coral of the genus Madrepora, many of which occur in tropical seas and form large coral reefs: order Zoantharia

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Other Word Forms

• madreporal
  adjective
• madreporian
  adjective
• madreporic
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of madrepore

1745–55; < French madrépore reef-building coral < Italian madrepora, equivalent to madre mother (< Latin māter ) + -pora, for poro < Greek pôros kind of stone

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

madrepore

Third picture: in shallow seas have sprung up isles of madrepore; a cluster of palm trees overhangs them here and there.

From Bouvard and Pécuchet A Tragi-comic Novel of Bourgeois Life by Gustave Flaubert

By way of strange contrast in values the pearls were separated from each other by worthless, little, smooth lumps of madrepore, or unfossilized coral.

From The Flying Legion by George Allan England

Another species of British madrepore, found by Mr. Gosse at Ilfracombe, and by Mr. Kingsley at Lundy Island.

From Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Shore by Charles Kingsley

He bent and affected to examine the madrepore.

From Major Vigoureux by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

Aleck continued, gleefully, whilst I drew in line, and my kite slowly descended; "we shall have time for the sailing match, and madrepore hunt, and the caverns—everything!"

From The Story of the White-Rock Cove by Anonymous

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