Moorish idol

American

noun

a black, white, and yellow fish, Zanclus cornutus (orcanescens ), inhabiting the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans, having a long snout and an elongated dorsal fin.

Moorish idol British

noun

a tropical marine spiny-finned fish, Zanclus canescens, that is common around coral reefs: family Zanclidae. It has a deeply compressed body with yellow and black stripes, a beaklike snout, and an elongated dorsal fin

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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The Moorish idol, a black-and-yellow striped fish with a mane-like dorsal fin spine, requires lots of space.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 19, 2022

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023