sea serpent

3 definitions found

sea serpent - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Sea serpent \Sea" ser"pent\
     1. (Zool.) Any marine snake. See Sea snake.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Zool.) A large marine animal of unknown nature, often
        reported to have been seen at sea, but never yet captured.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Many accounts of sea serpents are imaginary or
           fictitious; others are greatly exaggerated and
           distorted by incompetent observers; but a number have
           been given by competent and trustworthy persons, which
           indicate that several diverse animals have been called
           sea serpents. Among these are, apparently, several
           large snakelike fishes, as the oar fish, or ribbon fish
           (Regalecus), and huge conger eels. Other accounts
           probably refer to the giant squids (Architeuthis).
           Some of the best accounts seem to describe a marine
           saurian, like the fossil Mosasauri, which were large
           serpentlike creatures with paddles.
           [1913 Webster]

sea serpent - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  sea serpent
      n 1: huge creature of the sea resembling a snake or dragon

sea serpent - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  30 Moby Thesaurus words for "sea serpent":
     Loch Ness monster, alevin, benthon, benthos, cetacean, dolphin,
     fingerling, fish, fry, game fish, grilse, kipper, man-eater,
     man-eating shark, marine animal, minnow, minny, nekton, panfish,
     plankton, porpoise, salmon, sea monster, sea pig, sea snake, shark,
     smolt, sponge, tropical fish, whale