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sea lily

American

noun

a stalked, sessile crinoid.

sea lily British

noun

any of various sessile echinoderms, esp of the genus Ptilocrinus, in which the body consists of a long stalk attached to a hard surface and bearing a central disc with delicate radiating arms: class Crinoidea (crinoids)

"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

Etymology

Origin of sea lily

First recorded in 1875–80

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.

See Examples For:

sea lily

When the ROV returns, there is an excited dash for the samples including seawater, sediment and a forearm-length sea lily coated with dripping orange goo.

From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026

She pointed out the stem of a sea lily, which resembles a star.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 2022

"I remember Nev shouting from the garage, 'Sal, Sal! You've got to come and have a look at this!' It was this beautiful sea lily emerging, coming to life, from the slab."

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2021

We discover there the Orthoceras, a straight-shelled cephalopod, an armored fish and a sea lily.

From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2020

Yet there is some plant-life, and I was pleased to see, emerging from the bleak sand-dunes, the tufts of the well-known and conspicuous sea lily in full flower.

From Old Calabria by Douglas, Norman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023