Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

sea cow

noun
  1. any sirenian, as the manatee or dugong.
  2. Obsolete. the hippopotamus.
Show More

Origin of sea cow

First recorded in 1605–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sea cow

Historical Examples of sea cow

  • The way it held the sea-cow gave us a notion of its immense strength.

    On the Banks of the Amazon

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • Squier and Davis, who first figured it, supposed it to represent a manatee, or sea-cow.

  • I wonder if Bob has any idea of the size of a manatee or sea-cow?

  • It was named from the sea-cow, which was found there, and used as an article of food.

  • The sea-cow is one of these animals; the last specimens of which were seen in 1767 and 1768.

British Dictionary definitions for sea cow

sea cow

noun
  1. any sirenian mammal, such as a dugong or manatee
  2. an archaic name for walrus
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012