Portuguese man-of-war

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English

Etymology

A Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia physalis; sense 1).

From Portuguese (adjective) +‎ man-of-war,[1] from the resemblance of the organism’s float to a former Portuguese warship at full sail.

Pronunciation

Noun

Portuguese man-of-war (plural Portuguese men-of-war)

  1. Physalia physalis, a marine cnidarian consisting of a floating colony of hydrozoans attached to a float, superficially resembling a jellyfish.
    Synonyms: bluebottle, man-of-war
    • 2024 August 24, Stephen Burgen, “Resorts on Spain’s Costa Brava struggle with invasion of jellyfish as seas warm”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:
      However, two beaches in Tarragona in southern Catalonia were closed in July after Portuguese man o’war (Physalia physalis) were spotted in the water.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see Portuguese,‎ man-of-war.

Usage notes

  • Added capitalization, loss of hyphens, and reduction of of to o or o’ are common.

Alternative forms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ “Portuguese man-of-war, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “Portuguese man-of-war, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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