manta
noun
(in Spain and Spanish America) a cloak or wrap.
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manta
1 American
[man-tuh, mahn-tah]
/ ˈmæn tə, ˈmɑn tɑ /
noun
mantas
plural
-
(in Spain and Spanish America) a cloak or wrap.
-
a type of blanket or cloth used on a horse or mule.
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Military. a movable shelter formerly used to protect besiegers, as when attacking a fortress.
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Also called manta ray. Also called devilfish. Also called devil ray. Ichthyology. any of several tropical rays of the small family Mobulidae, especially of the genus Manta, measuring from 2 to 24 feet (0.6 to 7.3 meters) across, including the pectoral fins.
Manta
2
American
[mahn-tah, -tuh]
/ ˈmɑn tɑ, -tə /
noun
manta
British
/ ˈmæntə, ˈmanta /
noun
-
Also called: manta ray. devilfish. devil ray. any large ray (fish) of the family Mobulidae, having very wide winglike pectoral fins and feeding on plankton
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a rough cotton cloth made in Spain and Spanish America
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a piece of this used as a blanket or shawl
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another word for mantelet
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of manta
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Spanish, from Provençal: literally, “blanket”; see mantle
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:
The Gulf of Mexico is home to at least 19 other threatened and endangered species including various types of turtles, the giant manta ray and mountainous star coral.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Friday's decisions move whale sharks, manta rays and devil rays onto Appendix I after countries on Thursday did the same for the critically endangered oceanic whitetip shark.
From Barron's ● Nov. 28, 2025
Perhaps the manta ray-looking underwater vessel was being tested in their backyard?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2025
The soft robot has fins shaped like those of a manta ray, and is made of a material that is stable when the fins are spread wide.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 4, 2024
I draw a sweeping abstract something that’s a cross between an amoeba and a manta ray with eyes and mouths in unexpected places.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
On March 19, hundreds gathered outside the harbor master’s office in Manta, the port city where the Negra Francisca was based, demanding information and an all-hands search for the 16 missing fishermen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
The actor played the villainous Black Manta in DC’s “Aquaman” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” and his film roles have included “Ambulance,” “Us,” “The Greatest Showman” and 2021’s reboot of the horror classic “Candyman.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Air Force personnel to the Ecuadorean military base at Manta in December for a short-term mission to support antidrug operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
In Manta, a Pacific city that for a decade hosted an outpost of US forces, opinions are divided.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025
Farther south is the broad Bay of Manta, with a small port of the same name at its southern extremity.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 10 "Echinoderma" to "Edward" by Various
Giant mantas have the largest brain of all fish species, as described by Ari in 2011; they often form large feeding aggregations, suggesting complex social interactions and are often referred to as intelligent.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 27, 2018
Coral and colorful, small fish are almost always around, but mantas, hammerhead sharks and turtles are in shorter supply.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 3, 2016
Because manta-ray gills have become a popular cure for impotency in Chinese medicine, fishermen have now turned to hunting mantas.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2012
There were mantas twice your size on the Ras.”
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 26, 2010
The women who were already in mourning for my uncle Lucas took this opportunity to place their mantas over their faces and to scurry to their homes before the hellish storm raised its head again.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
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.
