starfish
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.
Origin of starfish
1- Also called sea star.
Words Nearby starfish
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use starfish in a sentence
The crust cracks, and those cracks must be closed immediately, lest they splinter into a 20-armed starfish.
America forgot how to make proper pie. Can we remember before it’s too late? | Megan McArdle | July 1, 2021 | Washington PostWhen Clements pried the urchins off, he found the remains of the starfish.
Urchin mobs can literally dis-arm a predator | Jake Buehler | June 29, 2021 | Science News For StudentsThen raise your free leg out to the side and your free arm toward the ceiling, like a starfish.
When there are too many bacterial cells, they use up so much oxygen that they suffocate the starfish.
Choked by bacteria, some starfish are turning to goo | Erin Garcia de Jesus | February 8, 2021 | Science News For StudentsHis team also analyzed tissues from starfish that had succumbed in a mass die-off between 2013 and 2014.
Choked by bacteria, some starfish are turning to goo | Erin Garcia de Jesus | February 8, 2021 | Science News For Students
Scientists blame mostly the Crown of Thorns killer starfish.
Great Barrier Reef Loses Half Its Coral in Just 27 years | The Telegraph | October 2, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTOn the rocks and sand at the bottom starfish and crabs crawled slowly along or clung to some stone.
Stories of California | Ella M. SextonThe oyster, tight in his shelly fortress, seems safe from the attack of a weak starfish.
On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader SmithAsk any fisherman what he thinks of the "harmless" starfish, and he will call it a pest and a nuisance.
On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader SmithThe mouth of the starfish opens into a kind of bag which slips between the oyster shells.
On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader SmithThe starfish merely presses the mussel into its mouth, cleans out the shells, and throws them away.
On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith
British Dictionary definitions for starfish
/ (ˈstɑːˌfɪʃ) /
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
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
Scientific definitions for starfish
[ stär′fĭsh′ ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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