Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
mermaids' tears en · NOUN
Meanings
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(colloquial, plural, plural-only) Small plastic pellets, or nurdles, found as marine pollutants.
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(colloquial, plural, plural-only) Small rounded pieces of sea glass.
I hadn't known how thirsty I was for the ocean until we found this beach near Victoria—not really beautiful, but diverse—a stretch of oddities, buttons of wood, mermaids' tears (glass fragments rubbed smooth), stones of worn-down brick.
2000, Luci Shaw, God in the Dark: Through Grief and Beyond, page 263:[…] glass and shells in the sand than gazing at the blue horizon. Seashells, round pebbles, driftwood—these natural materials are more precious to me than expensive jewels. I love hunting for "mermaids' tears"—pieces of broken glass that […]
2021, Young-Ran Lee, Create Dream Catchers, page 41:
Forms