eagle ray
1
5.9
- noun
- /ˈiɡəl reɪ/
:
raya águila
- The graceful eagle ray glided through the warm waters of the reef.
- eagle ray and stingray
- eagle ray and cownose
- eagle ray, guitarfish
Examples
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Tourists often enjoy watching eagle rays as they glide effortlessly across the sandy ocean floor.
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Giant eagle rays, sharks, barracuda, and batfish twirl around in a spellbinding dance.
Blog text (3) -
The other five cartilaginous fish ranked by weight (g) in descending order were eagle ray, stingray, cownose ray, guitarfish, and smooth-hound.
Academic text (2015) -
The liver weights of the eagle ray and stingray were found to be 667 and 562 g, and their HSIs were calculated to be 5.36% and 8.25%, respectively.
Academic text (2015) -
While snorkeling, we spotted several eagle rays swimming elegantly near the surface.
Synonyms
97
4.2
A flat fish with wide fins that looks like wings
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a noun–noun compound where 'eagle' (a large bird with broad wings) modifies 'ray' (a flat fish with winglike pectorals), so the overall meaning — a ray with eagle-like, broad/winglike fins — is directly inferable from the parts. The composition follows a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern for naming animals, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand it denotes a type of ray with eagle-like features.
Etymology
The name eagle ray comes from the way this large sea ray spreads wide, winglike fins and moves through the water like a flying bird, so its shape can remind people of an eagle. So thinking of a bird 'flying' helps you remember that an eagle ray is a graceful ray that seems to 'fly' through the sea.