sand flea
1
5.4
- noun
- /sænd fli/
- There are Batiri all over the jungle, like sand fleas at a beach or civil servants at a cheap pub.
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Watch on YouTubeYou see, like those sand fleas and limpets and krill, though these krill in particular are dead and helping the fleas, like all of us, waving a hand like a answer.
- You see, like those sand fleas and limpets and krill, though these krill in particular are dead and helping the fleas, like all of us, waving a hand like a answer.
Examples
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It looked a lot like your mission, even including the sand fleas.
Blog text (29) -
You see, like those sand fleas and limpets and krill, though these krill in particular are dead and helping the fleas, like all of us, waving a hand like a answer.
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Call up something called a dust mite and another something called a sand flea.
Fiction book (1992) -
They live in the dust, like sand fleas.
Fiction book (1992) -
The culprit was something like a sand flea, which you will note has a taste for warm-blooded critters.
Fiction book (1992) -
While relaxing on the beach, I noticed many sand fleas jumping around in the sand.
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She applied bug spray to her legs to avoid bites from sand fleas while sunbathing.
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The children laughed as they watched the sand fleas hop across the warm sand.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A small sea or freshwater animal like a tiny shrimp that lives on the bottom
A small animal that jumps like a flea and lives on sandy beaches
A small animal like a tiny shrimp that hops on beaches
A small beach animal that jumps like a flea
How Small
Surface Forms
Morphology
sand + flea
The compound combines 'sand' (a sandy environment) with 'flea' (a small, jumping biting creature), so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer it refers to a small flea-like animal found in the sand that jumps. Even though the precise biological identity (an amphipod/crustacean rather than an insect) may be unknown, the basic referent and behavior are transparently derived from the constituents and follow common noun–noun compounding patterns.
Etymology
Sand flea comes from a simple image: a tiny animal that lives in sand and 'jumps' like a flea, so the name means a small, hopping creature you can find on beaches.