starfish

American  

[stahr-fish] / ˈstɑrˌfɪʃ /

noun

starfish, plural starfishes plural

1. any echinoderm of the class Asteroidea, having the body radially arranged, usually in the form of a star, with five or more rays or arms radiating from a central disk; asteroid.

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starfish British  

/ ˈstɑːˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any echinoderm of the class Asteroidea , such as Asterias rubens , typically having a flattened body covered with a flexible test and five arms radiating from a central disc

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starfish Scientific  

/ stär′fĭsh′ /

1. Any of various marine echinoderms of the class Asteroidea, having a star-shaped body usually with five arms. The arms have rows of little suckers on the undersides, called tube feet, with which the animal moves around and grasps prey. Many species extrude their stomach onto prey and digest it externally. Starfish can grow new arms if any are lost, and in one species, a whole individual can be regenerated from a single piece of arm. Starfish are related to sea urchins and sea cucumbers.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• starfish
  plural
• starfishes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of starfish

First recorded in 1530–40; star + fish

Explanation

A starfish is a marine animal with five pointed arms. Starfish live in all the oceans on Earth. Not all starfish are star-shaped (though most are), and they're not actually fish. These fascinating invertebrates, also called sea stars, live in every possible marine habitat, from the depths of the ocean to coral reefs and tide pools. Starfish are usually shaped like a five-pointed star, but they can have as many as 50 arms whose tiny suckers help them move along the ocean floor. They come in almost every color imaginable, including white, purple, bright red, and pink.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

starfish starfishes

Of the last, Simon recalled lying like a starfish “while nothing inside is telling you to get up, read, watch, sing, call someone, or do much of anything at all.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

The survivors, along with fish and echinoderms such as starfish and sea urchins, went on to dominate Earth's oceans, a pattern that continues today.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

Low tide at a rock pool means a peek at the starfish and sea slugs hidden among the stones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Experts at Plymouth University's Marine Institute coined the term after observing starfish change their location in 2016.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025

As they approached the dais, Davos trod on painted crabs and clams and starfish, half-hidden amongst twisting black fronds of seaweed and the bones of drowned sailors.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Near the edges of the colony, many unused or abandoned nests cradled several icefish carcasses, many with starfishes and octopuses feasting on their eyes and soft parts.

From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2022

Ezio just starfishes his way through this one, and that’s so boring.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 4, 2016

The work of about 60 artists, they include a stuffed Pomeranian, a Gila monster and six-pointed starfishes, and oddities like nails from the coffin of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island.

From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2014

There were starfishes and mermaids all around me.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

Hungry whelks, finding them, could bore round holes in them with their sharp-pointed shells and so reach the juicy babies; wandering starfishes could clasp them in their long ray-arms and swallow shell and baby whole.

From The Sun's Babies by Howes, Edith