moray
noun
any of numerous chiefly tropical eels of the family Muraenidae, having porelike gill openings and no pectoral fins.
moray
1 American
[mawr-ey, mohr-ey, maw-rey, moh-]
/ ˈmɔr eɪ, ˈmoʊr eɪ, mɔˈreɪ, moʊ- /
noun
-
morays
plural
Moray
2
American
[mur-ee]
/ ˈmɜr i /
noun
Moray
1
British
/ ˈmʌrɪ /
noun
Moray
2
British
/ ˈmʌrɪ /
noun
moray
3
British
/ mɒˈreɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of moray
1615–25, < Portuguese moréia < Latin mūraena < Greek mȳ́raina lamprey
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.
See Examples For:
After weeks of patience, last year's winner, Shane Gross, captured peppered moray eels scavenging for carrion at low tide.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2025
A dead moray eel washed ashore near Laguna Niguel over the weekend, creeping out beachgoers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2024
Scientists exploring underwater caves have discovered a new species of moray eel that appears to be adapting to its unique habitat—by losing its eyes.
From Science Magazine ● May 18, 2023
A green moray eel poked out of the rocks, and a barracuda hunted overhead.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2022
In a panic he twisted the throttle and the johnboat picked up speed, but that didn’t help—Jasper Jr. was stuck on the end of my line like a moray eel.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
Kim Hutchison, 60, and Harry Grieve, 57, from Buckie, Moray, were staying in a Travelodge in Dundee when the early morning incident happened last month.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Residents living in the affected areas and those impacted by the spread of smoke, including Aberdeenshire and Moray, have been advised to keep all windows and doors closed.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Mary and her husband David moved away from their beloved home in Tomintoul, Moray, in 2023.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Moray representative Laura Mitchell was among those to use a prop during the ceremony.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
Scotsmen have wandered far and wide From Moray Frith to Frith of Clyde, McDonald from his sea girt isle, And Campbell from his broad Argyle.
From Poems of James McIntyre by James McIntyre
The researchers used baited traps to lure the morays to the surface of inland caves that connect to the ocean on Australia’s Christmas Island and the Philippines’s Panglao Island.
From Science Magazine ● May 18, 2023
We hope you can still manage a smile, even as our societal morays crumble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2022
Lana Sinapayen, an artificial life researcher who grew up in the Caribbean island of Martinique, said local fishermen often caught morays by placing squids on the shore and waiting for the eels to arrive.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2021
That, to me, is trying to impose contemporary morays onto history.
From Slate ● Apr. 21, 2020
At that moment another man came up, evidently in something of a hurry, and he pressed eagerly forward to look at the morays.
From Two Boys of the Battleship or For the Honor of Uncle Sam by Frank V. Webster
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.
