portuguese man-of-war

3 definitions found

portuguese man-of-war - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Portuguese \Por"tu*guese\, a. [Cf. F. portugais, Sp. portugues,
     Pg. portuguez.]
     Of or pertaining to Portugal, or its inhabitants. -- n. sing.
     & pl. A native or inhabitant of Portugal; people of Portugal.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Portuguese man-of-war. (Zool.) See Physalia.
        [1913 Webster]

  Man-of-war \Man`-of-war"\, n; pl. Men-of-war.
     1. A government vessel employed for the purposes of war, esp.
        one of large size; a ship of war. [WordNet sense 1]
  
     Syn: ship of the line.
          [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The Portuguese man-of-war.
  
     Syn: Syn. --, jellyfish.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     Man-of-war hawk (Zool.), the frigate bird.
  
     Man-of-war's man, a sailor serving in a ship of war.
  
     Portuguese man-of-war (Zool.), any species of the genus
        Physalia; it is a hydrozoan having both medusa and polyp
        stages present in a single colony. It floats on the
        surface of the sea by a buoyant bladderlike structure,
        from which dangle multiple long tentacles with stinging
        cells. Its can cause severe rashes when it comes in
        contact with humans swimming in the area. See Physalia.
        [1913 Webster]

portuguese man-of-war - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Portuguese man-of-war
      n 1: large siphonophore having a bladderlike float and stinging
           tentacles [syn: Portuguese man-of-war, man-of-war,
           jellyfish]