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velella

American  
[vuh-lel-uh] / vəˈlɛl ə /

noun

  1. a floating colony of hydrozoans of the genus Velella, having a vertical crest that is used as a sail.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of velella

1825–35; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin vēl ( um ) sail + -ella -ella

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:

Velella velella, commonly known as by-the-wind sailors and closely related to the Portuguese man o' war, have been spotted on beaches across Anglesey, Gwynedd and Tenby.

From BBC Jun. 18, 2026

Anya Stajner put Velella velella under a microscope.

From Los Angeles Times May 3, 2024

Previous research has found that gelatinous zooplankton like velella and their fellow jellyfish thrive in warmer waters, portending an era some scientists have referred to as the “rise of slime.”

From Los Angeles Times May 3, 2024

Both Parrish and Haddock, who runs a website called JellyWatch, encourage people to report velella beach sightings to a crowdsourced science project.

From Scientific American May 3, 2023

As the barnacles grew larger, the remains of the velella changed into large excrescences, half the size of a walnut.

From Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2 by Grey, George

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