wrasse

noun

plural wrasses also wrasse
: any of a large family (Labridae) of elongate usually brilliantly colored marine bony fishes that usually bury themselves in sand at night and include important food fishes as well as a number of popular aquarium fishes

Examples of wrasse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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There, guests can swim amid psychedelic colored wrasses and butterflyfish, and backstroke with barracudas and reef sharks. Jordan Riefe, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2025 The cleaner wrasse nibbles dead skin and parasites off the larger fish, providing the cleaner fish with food and leaving the lizardfish clean and healthy. Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2025 Thriving for more than five millennia, the barrier reef is a haven for captivating ecosystems, including over 165 species of reef fish found nowhere else on Earth, as well as dolphins, sea turtles, stingrays, and the majestic Napoleon wrasse. Sandra MacGregor, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024 Cleaner wrasse The common cleaner wrasse fish, which averages just around four inches in length and is found abundantly in coral reefs, wouldn’t seem like an obvious contender for an animal intelligence list at first glance. Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 4 July 2024 See All Example Sentences for wrasse

Word History

Etymology

Cornish gwragh, wragh hag, wrasse

First Known Use

circa 1672, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of wrasse was circa 1672

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Cite this Entry

“Wrasse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wrasse. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.

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