murex
Americannoun
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any marine gastropod of the genus Murex, common in tropical seas, certain species of which yield the royal purple dye valued by the ancients.
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a shell used as a trumpet, as in representations of Tritons in art.
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purplish red.
noun
Etymology
Origin of murex
1580–90; < New Latin, Latin mūrex the shellfish that yielded Tyrian purple dye
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.
Years later, he noticed a dead murex on the beach and recalling his history classes decided to experiment with ways of making the dye.
From Reuters • Feb. 8, 2022
Mouhamad Ghassen Nouira extracts the glands from murex snails to produce a dye known as Tyrian purple, at home in Tunis, Tunisia February 5, 2022.
From Reuters • Feb. 8, 2022
The biocide paint tributyltin, known as TBT, protected Shell tankers from accruing algae, barnacles and mussels, but it also caused female murex mollusks to change their gender, impairing their ability to spawn.
From Washington Post • Jul. 28, 2021
First came murex, an elegant snail with a pointed end, served with mayonnaise made with raw egg yolks.
From New York Times • Jul. 14, 2014
Mazes in the nodules on murex shells and in the textures of sycamore bark and inside the hollow bones of eagles.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
