sea mew

9.9

A medium white and grey bird that lives by the sea and eats fish

noun
/siː muː/

: gaviota

We watched the sea mew gliding above the crashing waves.

Examples

The children tried to feed the sea mew scraps of bread at the harbor.
The sea mew is often seen near coastal areas.
A solitary sea mew perched on the rocky outcrop, calling out to its flock.
Look at that sea mew diving into the water!
The children tried to feed the sea mew scraps of bread at the harbor.
We watched the sea mew gliding above the crashing waves.
The sea mew is often seen near coastal areas.

Synonyms

mew

vssea mew

1 9.9

A small gull with grey and white feathers that lives by the sea

is the usual name for that small species

Larus canus

vssea mew

Specialized

8.8

A medium-sized seagull with pale grey wings and a white body that lives in Europe, Asia, and northeast North America

is the common name used for that species

mew gull

vssea mew

9.6

A medium-sized seabird with a grey back and white belly found in Europe, Asia, and northeastern North America

is the usual name but applies regardless of described size

Surface Forms

sea mew singular

sea mews plural

Morphology

sea + mew

The name 'sea mew' is directly compositional: 'sea' (the habitat) + 'mew' (a small coastal gull) yields a gull associated with the sea. This noun–noun compounding pattern is transparent and commonly used cross-linguistically for animal names, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Sea mew likely comes from people hearing the bird's cry and calling that sound a mew, so the parts sea and mew together picture a bird by the sea. That's why sea mew is simply a name for the common 'gull' found near the coast.