slime eel
- noun
- /slaɪm iːl/
:
pez bruja
- The slime eel uses its tentacled mouth to feed on dead fish lying on the ocean floor.
Examples
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When caught, the slime eel can secrete a thick slime to protect itself from predators.
-
Thus, fishermen in the northeastern Pacific call hagfish "slime eels."
Academic text (1993) -
Fishermen often refer to the slime eel as hagfish due to its peculiar feeding habits.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A long eel-like sea animal with a round mouth and tentacles that eats dead fish by boring into them
1
9.9
A long eel-like sea fish that eats dead or dying fish from the inside and makes slime
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound combines 'slime' and 'eel' in a straightforward descriptive way: a B1 learner who knows both words would infer an eel-like animal that is slimy or produces slime. Although the biological detail (hagfish are not true eels) is technical, the basic meaning is compositionally predictable and follows common noun+noun compounding patterns.
Etymology
Slime eel comes from the animal's shape and the way it lives: it is long like an eel and it makes large amounts of sticky slime when it eats dead fish or when frightened. So the name links the words 'slime' and 'eel' to a slimy, eel-like sea creature, which helps you remember what it is.