devilfish
n 1: medium-sized greyish-black whale of the northern Pacific
[syn: grey whale, gray whale, devilfish,
Eschrichtius gibbosus, Eschrichtius robustus]
2: bottom-living cephalopod having a soft oval body with eight
long tentacles [syn: octopus, devilfish]
3: extremely large pelagic tropical ray that feeds on plankton
and small fishes; usually harmless but its size make it
dangerous if harpooned [syn: manta, manta ray,
devilfish]
|
Gray \Gray\ (gr[=a]), a. [Compar. Grayer; superl. Grayest.]
[OE. gray, grey, AS. gr[=ae]g, gr[=e]g; akin to D. graauw,
OHG. gr[=a]o, G. grau, Dan. graa, Sw. gr[*a], Icel. gr[=a]r.]
[Written also grey.]
1. any color of neutral hue between white and black; white
mixed with black, as the color of pepper and salt, or of
ashes, or of hair whitened by age; sometimes, a dark mixed
color; as, the soft gray eye of a dove.
[1913 Webster]
These gray and dun colors may be also produced by
mixing whites and blacks. --Sir I.
Newton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Gray-haired; gray-headed; of a gray color; hoary.
[1913 Webster]
3. Old; mature; as, gray experience. -- Ames.
[1913 Webster]
4. gloomy; dismal.
[PJC]
Gray antimony (Min.), stibnite.
Gray buck (Zool.), the chickara.
Gray cobalt (Min.), smaltite.
Gray copper (Min.), tetrahedrite.
Gray duck (Zool.), the gadwall; also applied to the female
mallard.
Gray falcon (Zool.) the peregrine falcon.
Gray Friar. See Franciscan, and Friar.
Gray hen (Zool.), the female of the blackcock or black
grouse. See Heath grouse.
Gray mill or Gray millet (Bot.), a name of several plants
of the genus Lithospermum; gromwell.
Gray mullet (Zool.) any one of the numerous species of the
genus Mugil, or family Mugilid[ae], found both in the
Old World and America; as the European species
(Mugilid[ae] capito, and Mugilid[ae] auratus), the
American striped mullet (Mugilid[ae] albula), and the
white or silver mullet (Mugilid[ae] Braziliensis). See
Mullet.
Gray owl (Zool.), the European tawny or brown owl (Syrnium
aluco). The great gray owl (Ulula cinerea) inhabits
arctic America.
Gray parrot (Zool.), an African parrot (Psittacus
erithacus), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its
aptness in learning to talk. Also called jako.
Gray pike. (Zool.) See Sauger.
Gray snapper (Zool.), a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See
Snapper.
Gray snipe (Zool.), the dowitcher in winter plumage.
Gray whale (Zool.), a rather large and swift whale of the
northern Pacific (Eschrichtius robustus, formerly
Rhachianectes glaucus), having short jaws and no dorsal
fin. It grows to a length of 50 feet (someimes 60 feet).
It was formerly taken in large numbers in the bays of
California, and is now rare; -- called also grayback,
devilfish, and hardhead. It lives up to 50 or 60 years
and adults weigh from 20 to 40 tons.
[1913 Webster]
|
Gray whale \Gray whale\ (Zool.),
a rather large and swift baleen whale of the northern Pacific
(Eschrichtius robustus, formerly Rhachianectes glaucus),
having short jaws and no dorsal fin; -- called also
grayback, devilfish, and hardhead. It grows to a length
of 50 feet (sometimes 60 feet). It was formerly taken in
large numbers in the bays of California, and is now rare. It
lives up to 50 or 60 years and adults weigh from 20 to 40
tons.
[1913 Webster + PJC]
|
Cephaloptera \Ceph`a*lop"te*ra\
(s[e^]f`[.a]*l[o^]p"t[-e]*r[.a]), n. [NL., fr. Gr. kefalh`
head + ptero`n wing.] (Zool.)
One of the generic names of the gigantic ray (Manta
birostris) of the family Mobulidae, known as devilfish,
sea devil, manta and manta ray. It is common on the
coasts of South Carolina, Florida, and farther south, and is
sometimes found as far north as New York Bay. Some of them
grow to enormous size, becoming twenty feet of more across
the body, and weighing more than a ton.
[1913 Webster]
|