sea cow

noun

1. any sirenian, as the manatee or dugong.

2. Obsolete.,  the hippopotamus.

sea cow

noun

1. any sirenian mammal, such as a dugong or manatee

2. an archaic name for walrus

Word History and Origins

Origin of sea cow¹

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

Fifteen million years ago, now-extinct species of dolphins, whales and large sea cows roamed the world’s oceans, topping the underwater food chain.

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Manatees are large aquatic mammals commonly known as sea cows.

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Earlier this month, Hurricane Idalia similarly stranded a group of manatees inland in Florida, a repeat of what happened after Hurricane Hermine trapped sea cows on flooded golf course ponds in 2016.

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Then we ran the model again, but this time with the four-ton sea creature—the Steller’s sea cow—added in.

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Dugongs, the chubby marine mammals also known as a sea cows, are listed globally as "vulnerable" even as their plummeting populations in East Africa and New Caledonia were updated to "endangered" in December.

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