[syn: Portuguese man-of-war, man-of-war, jellyfish]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Man-of-war \Man`-of-war"\, n; pl. Men-of-war.
1. A government vessel employed for the purposes of war, esp.
one of large size; a ship of war. [WordNet sense 1]
Syn: ship of the line.
[1913 Webster]
2. The Portuguese man-of-war.
Syn: Syn. --, jellyfish.
[WordNet 1.5]
Man-of-war hawk (Zool.), the frigate bird.
Man-of-war's man, a sailor serving in a ship of war.
Portuguese man-of-war (Zool.), any species of the genus
Physalia; it is a hydrozoan having both medusa and polyp
stages present in a single colony. It floats on the
surface of the sea by a buoyant bladderlike structure,
from which dangle multiple long tentacles with stinging
cells. Its can cause severe rashes when it comes in
contact with humans swimming in the area. See Physalia.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
man-of-war
n 1: a warship intended for combat [syn: man-of-war, ship of
the line]
2: large siphonophore having a bladderlike float and stinging
tentacles [syn: Portuguese man-of-war, man-of-war,
jellyfish]