Classical Mythology. a son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, represented as having the head and trunk of a man and the tail of a fish, and as using a conch-shell trumpet.
Astronomy. a moon of Neptune.
(lowercase) any of various marine gastropods of the family Cymatiidae, having a large, spiral, often beautifully colored shell.
(lowercase) the shell of a triton.
a sea god, son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, depicted as having the upper parts of a man with a fish's tail and holding a trumpet made from a conch shell
one of a class of minor sea deities
1930–35; < Greek tríton, neuter of trítos third, equivalent to trí- tri- + -ton neuter adj. suffix; cf. -on 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The bird was either a yellow-crested or a triton cockatoo, she said, meaning it most likely came from northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, or islands off Indonesia.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2018
Ships teem around the Arsenale while a colossal triton rides a sea monster at the mouth of the Grand Canal – the real marries the fabulous as Venice is wedded to the sea.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 23, 2010
By relentlessly hunting for a rare trumpet-shaped mollusk called the giant triton, some scientists say, shell collectors have taken a devastating toll of one of the crown-of-thorns' few natural enemies.
From Time Magazine Archive
It happened that he was on the point of a magnificent manœuvre, and alongside his own triton Manasseh's minnow might just as well swim.
From The King of Schnorrers Grotesques and Fantasies by Zangwill, Israel
For there, like a triton on a sea-horse, came Gibbie through the water on Snowball, swimming wearily.
From Sir Gibbie by MacDonald, George
During this month, 10 flights were recorded, all by MQ-4C Triton drones used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
On 15 May, two US MQ-4C Triton surveillance drones also operated off the coast of southern Cuba, with tracking showing them operating along a route similar to one previously flown by a Poseidon.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
Triton Baseball defeats Beckman 5-0 today at home.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025
It is listed on the Triton website as the Abyssal Explorer, an acrylic-hulled vessel than can reach depths of 13,000 feet, “the perfect submersible for repeated trips to the deep ocean.”
From New York Times ● May 28, 2024
Of the four dolphins whose tails supported the shell on which the Triton squatted, the one nearest to Cecilia had its wide-open mouth stopped with moss and algae.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
