: the typically free-swimming, bell-shaped, usually sexually-reproducing solitary or colonial form of a cnidarian in which the whorls of tentacles lined with nematocysts arise and hang down from the margin of the nearly transparent, gelatinous bell : medusa
especially: a large medusa characteristic of the siphonophores and scyphozoans (such as the sea nettle or box jellyfish)
a jellyfish who was afraid to tell her boss that her latest brainstorm was just plain bad
Recent Examples on the WebTrudy Ederle’s paradoxically exhilarating ordeal amid the choppy waters, threatening skies, jellyfish and sheer physical punishment of the Channel was made for the screen.—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 31 May 2024 Share [Findings] Stinging water was blamed on jellyfish mucus.—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024 The jellyfish has shown up in mysterious places before, much to the concern of biologists.—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 6 May 2024 Aquatic animals often mistake balloons for jellyfish and feel full after eating them, essentially starving from the inside out.—Cara Buckley, New York Times, 8 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for jellyfish
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jellyfish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
: any of numerous free-swimming coelenterate animals that reproduce sexually and have a jellylike, saucer-shaped, and usually nearly transparent body and tentacles with stinging cells
2
: any of various sea animals that resemble a jellyfish
: a free-swimming marine coelenterate that is the sexually reproducing form of a hydrozoan or scyphozoan and has a nearly transparent saucer-shaped body and extensible marginal tentacles studded with stinging cells
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