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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

starfish en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (US) audio
  • /ˈstɑː(ɹ)fɪʃ/

Etymology

From star + fish.

Meanings

  1. Any of various echinoderms (not in fact fish) with usually five arms, many of which eat bivalves or corals by everting their stomach.
    • Near-synonym: Asteroidea
  2. (obsolete) Any many-armed or tentacled sea invertebrate, whether cnidarian, echinoderm, or cephalopod.
    • But the largest of the star-fish kind is that sea monster called kruken, kraken or krabben. [...] As this enormous sea-animal in all probability may be reckoned of the polype, or of the star-fish, kind, it seems that the parts which are seen rising at its pleasure, and are called arms, are properly the tentacula, or feeding instruments, called horns as well as arms. 1755, Erik Pontoppidan, translated by Isaac Kimbler, Explanation of the Plate of Uncommon Star Fish, Extracted from the Natural History of Norway:
  3. (slang) A woman (or, less commonly, a gay man) who reluctantly takes part in sexual intercourse, and lies on the back while spreading the limbs.
  4. (slang, vulgar) The anus.
    • Hands separated my ass cheeks while some pervert rimmed my puckered brown starfish. 2021, Sophie Palmer, Hot Wife: Collection of Explicit Erotic Short Stories:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
star-fish alternative, archaic lexicographic
starfishes Number=Plur lexicographic
starfish Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

royal starfish · starfishlike · starfish-associated densovirus · crown-of-thorns starfish · starfish flower · starfish wasting disease · chocolate starfish

Hypernyms

animal · echinoderm · creature

Synonyms

dead fish · cold fish · sea star · chocolate starfish · mul:Asteroidea · asteroid

Translations (100)

es estrella marina (various echinoderms) · my ရေလက်ဝါး (various echinoderms) · bg мо́рска звезда́ (various echinoderms) · ms tapak sulaiman (various echinoderms) · ka ზღვის ვარსკვლავი (various echinoderms) · lt jūrų žvaigždė (various echinoderms) · cs hvězdice (various echinoderms) · sh звездача (various echinoderms) · tr denizyıldızı (various echinoderms) · ru морска́я звезда́ (various echinoderms) · is sæstjarna (various echinoderms) · sl morska zvezda (various echinoderms) · ja ヒトデ (various echinoderms) · ro stea-de-mare (various echinoderms) · crh deñiz yıldızı (various echinoderms) · gl gradicela (various echinoderms) · nv sǫʼ łóóʼ (various echinoderms) · fo krossfiskur (various echinoderms) · pt estrela-do-mar (various echinoderms) · ast estrella de mar (various echinoderms) · vi sao biển (various echinoderms) · az dəniz ulduzu (various echinoderms) · mi papatangaroa (various echinoderms) · it stella di mare (various echinoderms) · eo marstelo (various echinoderms) · la stella marina (various echinoderms) · sk morská hviezdica (various echinoderms) · hy ծովաստղ (various echinoderms) · to mangamangaʻātai (various echinoderms) · gl estrelamar (various echinoderms) · km ផ្កាយសមុទ្រ (various echinoderms) · hi तारा मछली (various echinoderms) · eu itsas izar (various echinoderms) · my ကြယ်ငါး (various echinoderms) · gag deniz yıldızı (various echinoderms) · fi meritähti (various echinoderms) · et meritäht (various echinoderms) · dz སྐར་ཉ (various echinoderms) · fr étoile de mer (various echinoderms) · ko 불가사리 (various echinoderms) · gl estrela de mar (various echinoderms) · de Seestern (various echinoderms) · as তৰামাছ (various echinoderms) · ja 海星 (various echinoderms) · ga crosóg (various echinoderms) · yi ים־שטערן (various echinoderms) · nl zeester (various echinoderms) · mk мо́рска ѕве́зда (various echinoderms) · id bintang laut (various echinoderms) · tl bituin-dagat (various echinoderms) · id tapak-tapak (various echinoderms) · sh zvezdača (various echinoderms) · ain オタカリㇷ゚ (various echinoderms) · mi pātangaroa (various echinoderms) · bo སྐར་ཉ (various echinoderms) · sk hviezdica (various echinoderms) · ko 해성 (various echinoderms) · da søstjerne (various echinoderms) · uk морська́ зі́рка (various echinoderms) · nrf êtaile dé mé (various echinoderms) · is krossfiskur (various echinoderms) · el αστερίας (various echinoderms) · th ดาวทะเล (various echinoderms) · be марска́я зо́рка (various echinoderms) · uz dengiz yulduzi (various echinoderms) · hu tengeri csillag (various echinoderms) · gl cercela (various echinoderms) · lo ດາວທະເລ (various echinoderms) · it stella marina (various echinoderms) · no sjøstjerne (various echinoderms) · mi pekapeka (various echinoderms) · ga crosóg mhara (various echinoderms) · ca estrella de mar (various echinoderms) · sv sjöstjärna (various echinoderms) · afb نجمة البحر (various echinoderms) · cmn 海星 (various echinoderms) · sh morska zvijezda (various echinoderms) · he כּוֹכַב יָם (various echinoderms) · bn তারামাছ (various echinoderms) · th ปลาดาว (various echinoderms) · to alamea (various echinoderms) · es estrella de mar (various echinoderms) · km ក្រ (various echinoderms) · ar نَجْمَةُ اَلْبَحْرِ (various echinoderms) · mg kintandranomasina (various echinoderms) · pl rozgwiazda (various echinoderms) · mi pātangatanga (various echinoderms) · sa तारामीन (various echinoderms) · mn далайн од (various echinoderms) · sk hviezdovka (various echinoderms) · sh морска звезда (various echinoderms) · kmr stêra deryayê (various echinoderms) · tl isdambituin (various echinoderms) · ro stea de mare (various echinoderms) · ast estrella (various echinoderms) · izh meritähti (various echinoderms) · fa-ira سِتارِهٔ دَرْیایی (various echinoderms) · haw peʻa (various echinoderms) · kk теңіз жұлдызы (various echinoderms) · lv jūras zvaigzne (various echinoderms)

wikidata: Q497 · wikidata: Q25349

starfish en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (US) audio
  • /ˈstɑː(ɹ)fɪʃ/

Etymology

From star + fish.

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To assume a splayed-out shape, like that of a starfish.
    • "Oh you damn bastard, why won't you let anybody love you," and then, before I could stop her, she threw herself between us and the glowing suitcase, starfishing in the blaze of light as he blew up. 1981, Kit Reed, Magic Time, page 229:
    • The freckle on her eye starfished out and the sun began to move over her face like it does below the surface of water. 2020, Becky Manawatu, Auē, page 95:
  2. (intransitive) To assume a splayed-out shape, like that of a starfish. ▸ While floating on water
  3. (transitive) To form into a splayed-out shape, like that of a starfish.
    • The sea roared up her nostrils, tunnelled into her ears, and flung her forward, then back, the current pulling her fingers apart, starfishing her hands. 2011, Polly Williams, It Happened One Summer:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
starfishing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
starfishes Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
starfished Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
starfished Tense=Past lexicographic
star-fish alternative, archaic lexicographic

Relateds

Starfish site