elephant seal
4
4.2
- noun
- /ˈɛlɪfənt siːl/
:
foca elefante
- From the mammal section came the low, guttural bellows of disgruntled elephant seals.
- a male elephant seal
Examples
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Adult male elephant seals can have canines as large as 6 inches long.
Academic text (2009) -
During the breeding season, the beach is full of elephant seals lounging in the sun.
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Okay, um, have you ever seen an elephant seal then?
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The beach is full of elephant seals during this season.
Academic text (2009) -
The elephant seals do not have too many natural predators.
Academic text (2009) -
Just off Highway 1, approximately ten minutes north of San Simeon, California, is one of the largest colonies of elephant seals in America.
Academic text (2009) -
In addition to birds, we were also able to photograph fur seals, elephant seals, sea lions, and eight different species of whales.
Academic text (1994) -
In his spare time, Dave volunteers, rescuing and rehabilitating sea lions and baby elephant seals.
Blog text (3) -
The largest seal rookery in the Northern Hemisphere outside of Alaska, Point Bennett also attracts tens of thousands of northern elephant seals and smaller numbers of northern fur and harbor seals.
Academic text (2007) -
Above Otter Point on San Miguel, I watch hundreds of barking sea lions and a lone bull elephant seal lounging on the beach and cavorting in the surf.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
108
1.0
A large sea mammal with flippers that lives near cold coasts
A group of very large sea mammals called elephant seals
A very large seal with a long nose that lives in cold oceans
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is fully compositional: 'elephant' (large animal) + 'seal' (marine mammal) yields the idea of a very large seal or a seal that resembles an elephant. Naming animals by size or resemblance is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Elephant seal: The name elephant seal comes from how the animal looks: the big male has a long, trunk-like nose and a huge body that remind people of an elephant, so the name means 'a very large seal'.