Portuguese man-of-war

noun

1. any of several large, oceanic hydrozoans of the genus Physalia, having a large, bladderlike structure with a saillike crest by which they are buoyed up and from which dangle tentacles with stinging cells.

Portuguese man-of-war

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: man-of-war. any of several large complex colonial hydrozoans of the genus Physalia, esp P. physalis, having an aerial float and long stinging tentacles: order Siphonophora

Word History and Origins

Origin of Portuguese man-of-war¹

First recorded in 1700–10