sea wrack
- noun
- /si wræk/
- UK
:
algas marinas
- The sea palpitated, up, down, up, down, sucking noisily at bits of sea wrack.
Examples
-
On our walk by the ocean, we noticed that the sea wrack harbored small crabs and other marine life.
-
They are holding hands, running barefoot through the sea wrack and foam.
Fiction book (1993) -
After the storm, the beach was covered in sea wrack, making it difficult to walk along the shore.
-
The children collected pieces of sea wrack to examine the different types of seaweed washed up by the tide.
Synonyms
41
1.0
A plant that grows in the sea, often in long green or brown sheets
19
4.9
Large brown seaweed with long strong leaves that forms underwater forests near the coast
2
5.4
An underwater plant with long leaves that forms dense beds in shallow seas
1
8.1
A long plant with narrow leaves that grows underwater and forms meadows for fish
1
9.9
Seaweed and other water plants washed up on the shore
1
9.6
A large brown seaweed that grows in cold ocean waters and forms underwater forests
1
9.0
A rough brown seaweed that grows on rocks at low tide
1
9.9
A group of brown seaweeds found in warm coastal waters
A common brown seaweed that grows on northern coasts and is used as fertilizer
A brown seaweed with small air bladders that people use as garden fertilizer
A large brown seaweed that grows on North Atlantic coasts and is used as plant food and feed for animals
A large brown seaweed that grows in cold water near the coast
A brown seaweed with saw-toothed edges that grows on rocky seashores
A dark seaweed that grows on rocks and is used as a fertilizer and in kelp products
A brown seaweed with long strands like ropes that grows in the sea
A brown seaweed that floats in the open ocean and forms large patches
A brown seaweed with round air sacs that floats in large patches in warm Atlantic waters
A sea plant with long narrow leaves that grows underwater and forms beds where fish and small animals live
Long underwater plant with thin leaves that grows near coasts
A green seaweed that grows in warm coastal waters
A rough seaweed that grows on seashores and is often large and leathery
A green edible seaweed with thin crinkled leaves found in shallow water
A red sea plant used as food and to thicken dishes
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a straightforward modifier + noun where 'sea' specifies source/location and 'wrack' already means seaweed or marine vegetation; the combined sense (seaweed/marine plants, especially washed up) is directly derivable from the parts. This compositional, cross-linguistically common pattern makes the phrase immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Sea wrack comes from the simple image of seaweed the sea leaves on the beach: sea plus wrack, where 'wrack' is a word for things the water has washed up. So sea wrack means 'large seaweed or marine plants washed up on the shore', which is why you see it in heaps after a storm.