mako
Americannoun
plural
makosnoun
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any shark of the genus Isurus, esp I. glaucus of Indo-Pacific and Australian seas: family Isuridae
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the teeth of the mako worn as a decoration by early Māoris
noun
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Also called: wineberry. a small evergreen New Zealand tree, Aristotelia serrata: family Elaeocarpaceae
-
another name for bellbird
Etymology
Origin of mako
Borrowed into English from Maori around 1720–30
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.
Currently, 24 threatened species have international legal protection – including mako, angel, threshers and hammerheads.
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025
Later that week, in Peruíbe, a town whose name means “river of sharks” in the Indigenous Tupi language, I meet a man who’s searching for mako to barbeque that day.
From National Geographic • Jul. 17, 2023
Tags that he and collaborators have placed on more than 100 blue and mako sharks support the idea.
From Science Magazine • Feb. 1, 2023
These include teeth from snaggletooth, lemon, mako, silky, sand tiger and great white sharks.
From Washington Post • Jan. 11, 2023
The sea horse and the mako shark whisked off and started playing something that looked like tag.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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.
