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Glite Dictionary
Portuguese man-of-war

Portuguese man-of-war

1 8.8
A large sea animal with a float and long tentacles that can sting people
  • noun
  • /ˌpɔr.tʃəˈɡiz ˈmæn əv ˈwɔr/
translation icon : carabela portuguesa
  • Now green nylon cords spread like tentacles from a Portuguese man-of-war.
  • stung by a Portuguese man-of-war
  • tentacles of a Portuguese man-of-war

Examples

  • Before crossing the Indian Ocean, Eastman got stung by a Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish during a swimming trip.

    Blog text (4)

  • The bright blue color of the Portuguese man-of-war makes it easy to recognize along the beach.

  • "I got stung by a Portuguese man-of-war." "A very small sting."

    Fiction book (1992)

  • That's the Portuguese man-of-war.

    Stormbreaker (2006)

  • Hester floated on her back, auburn hair trailing on the surface like a Portuguese man-of-war.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The city/entity was a collective life-form, like a Portuguese man-of-war or a massively hyperlinked expert network.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The tide was coming in, bringing with it brown mats of seaweed, and, tangled in the vegetation, thousands of the jellyfish known as Portuguese men-of-war.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • While walking along the shoreline, I spotted a Portuguese man-of-war floating in the surf.

  • A child was stung by a Portuguese man-of-war while swimming, causing mild discomfort.

Synonyms

man-of-war
vsPortuguese man-of-war
2 9.2

A floating sea animal with a small float and long stinging tentacles

is a siphonophore with formal classification and noted confusion with jellyfish
Physalia
vsPortuguese man-of-war
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A floating sea animal with a gas-filled float and long stinging tentacles

is the common name used for the same animal rather than the genus label

Surface Forms

Portuguese man-of-war singular
Portuguese man-of-wars plural

Morphology

Portuguese + man-of-war

The phrase is a conventionalized name for a marine siphonophore and its referent (a floating animal with stinging tentacles) is not derivable from 'Portuguese' (national origin) plus 'man-of-war' (historically a warship). The connection is a lexicalized metaphor (the float resembling a ship) so learners who only know the parts would not reliably infer the animal meaning.

Etymology

Portuguese man-of-war got its name because its air-filled float looked like the sail of an old man-of-war, a small warship. People thought the float and long, rope-like tentacles made it look like a tiny ship on the water, so the name stayed even though it is 'not a ship'.