nurse shark

American  

noun

1. any of several sharks of the family Orectolobidae, especially Ginglymostoma cirratum, occurring in shallow waters from Rhode Island to Brazil and the Gulf of California to Ecuador.

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nurse shark British  

noun

1. any of various sharks of the family Orectolobidae, such as Ginglymostoma cirratum of the Atlantic Ocean, having an external groove on each side of the head between the mouth and nostril

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Etymology

Origin of nurse shark

First recorded in 1850–55; allegedly so called because the male habitually hangs on to the female's fin with his teeth

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nurse shark

While Tayane Dalazen was bitten by a nurse shark - known as a more docile species - some influencers have been filmed touching tiger sharks and even great whites.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Atlantic nurse shark: The suction feeder gets shut-eye during the day and lies still while snoozing—making it the only shark species that shows multiple attributes of what the rest of the animal kingdom calls “sleep.”

From Scientific American ● May 19, 2021

Minutes later, he and his colleagues stood in formation in shin-deep water in a tank of slowly circling sharks: sand tigers, sandbar sharks and a nurse shark.

From New York Times ● May 16, 2018

They net a cat shark or nurse shark and wrestle it into a small pool of water that contains a mild sedative.

From Science Magazine ● May 10, 2018

Mister Lochana said it was a nurse shark, and my mom grabbed me and held me so tight I couldn’t breathe, even though Mister Lochana promised us nurse sharks don’t bite.

From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender

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