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Glite Dictionary
cow-nosed ray

cow-nosed ray

9.3
A large flat fish with a broad rounded head like a cow's nose
  • noun
  • /kaʊ-noʊzd reɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : rayo de nariz de vaca
  • The diver was excited to encounter a large school of cow-nosed rays during the underwater expedition.

Examples

  • Dark brown shadows moving under our boat turned out to be a family of cow-nosed rays.

    Academic text (2004)

  • While snorkeling, we spotted a group of cow-nosed rays gliding gracefully through the clear water.

  • Children on the beach were thrilled to see cow-nosed rays swimming close to the shore.

Synonyms

Rhinoptera bonasus
vscow-nosed ray
  • Specialized
9.9

A large ray found along the east coast of North America

focuses on its distinct rounded head shape
cownose ray
vscow-nosed ray
  • Specialized
9.2

A large flat sea animal with wing-like fins and a pointed nose found along the east coast of North America

emphasizes the species' rounded head shape rather than range

Surface Forms

cow-nosed ray singular
cow-nosed rays plural

Morphology

cow-nosed + ray

The compound is compositionally built: 'ray' names the fish and 'cow-nosed' transparently describes a ray with a nose/head resembling a cow. This kind of resemblance-based naming is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows 'cow' and 'nose' (and the suffix '-ed' forming an adjective) can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Cow-nosed ray comes from a simple picture: the ray's wide, rounded head looks like a cow's nose, so people called it 'cow-nosed' and the name now means this kind of ray.