seaweed

sea·weed

S0198000 (sē′wēd′)n.1. Any of numerous marine algae, such as a kelp, rockweed, or gulfweed.2. A mass of such algae.

seaweed

(ˈsiːˌwiːd) n1. (Plants) any of numerous multicellular marine algae that grow on the seashore, in salt marshes, in brackish water, or submerged in the ocean2. (Plants) any of certain other plants that grow in or close to the sea

sea•weed

(ˈsiˌwid)

n. 1. any of numerous leafy or branching marine algae. 2. any of various marine plants. [1570–80]

sea·weed

(sē′wēd′) Any of various algae or plants that live in ocean waters. Some species are free-floating, while others are attached to the ocean bottom. Seaweed range from the size of a pinhead to large fronds extending up to 100 feet (30.5 meters) in length.

Thesaurus

Noun

seaweed - plant growing in the sea, especially marine algaealga, algae - primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leavesarame - an edible seaweed with a mild flavorwrack - dried seaweed especially that cast ashoreseagrass - any of various seaweeds that grow underwater in shallow beds; "seagrass provides a protective environment in which young fish can develop"sea wrack, wrack - growth of marine vegetation especially of the large forms such as rockweeds and kelpsea tang, tang - any of various coarse seaweeds

Translations

海草海藻

sea

(siː) noun1. (often with the) the mass of salt water covering most of the Earth's surface. I enjoy swimming in the sea; over land and sea; The sea is very deep here; (also adjective) A whale is a type of large sea animal.海洋2. a particular area of sea. the Baltic Sea; These fish are found in tropical seas. （专用名词中的）海，内海 3. a particular state of the sea. mountainous seas. 海（域） ˈseaward(s) adverb towards the sea; away from the land. The yacht left the harbour and sailed seawards. 向海（航行） ˈseaboard noun the seacoast. the eastern seaboard of the United States. 海岸，沿海地区 sea breeze a breeze blowing from the sea towards the land. 海风ˈseafaring adjective of work or travel on ships. a seafaring man.以航海为业的ˈseafood noun fish, especially shellfish. 海味，海鲜 adjectiveseafood restaurants. 海味的，海鲜的 ˈseafront noun a promenade or part of a town with its buildings facing the sea. 海岸区，海滨区 ˈsea-going adjective designed and equipped for travelling on the sea. a sea-going yacht.适于航海的ˈseagull noun a gull. 海鸥sea level the level of the surface of the sea used as a base from which the height of land can be measured. three hundred metres above sea level.海平线ˈsea-lion noun a type of large seal. 海狮ˈseaman – plural ˈseamen – noun a sailor, especially a member of a ship's crew who is not an officer. 海员，水手 ˈseaport noun a port on the coast. 海港ˈseashell noun the (empty) shell of a sea creature. 海贝，贝壳 ˈseashore noun the land close to the sea. 海岸，海滨 ˈseasick adjective ill because of the motion of a ship at sea. Were you seasick on the voyage?晕船的ˈseasickness noun晕船ˈseaside noun (usually with the) a place beside the sea. We like to go to the seaside in the summer.海边ˈseaweed noun plants growing in the sea. The beach was covered with seaweed.海草ˈseaworthy adjective (negative unseaworthy) (of a ship) suitably built and in good enough condition to sail at sea. 经得起风浪的ˈseaworthiness noun （船的）适航性 at sea1. on a ship and away from land. He has been at sea for four months. 出海，在海上航行 2. puzzled or bewildered. Can I help you? You seem all at sea.不知所措go to sea to become a sailor. He wants to go to sea.去当水手put to sea to leave the land or a port. They planned to put to sea the next day. 出航，启航

seaweed

→ 海藻zhCN

seaweed

seaweed,

name commonly used for the multicellular marine algaealgae
[plural of Lat. alga=seaweed], a large and diverse group of primarily aquatic plantlike organisms. These organisms were previously classified as a primitive subkingdom of the plant kingdom, the thallophytes (plants that lack true roots, stems, leaves, and flowers).
..... Click the link for more information. . Simpler forms, consisting of one cell (e.g., the diatomdiatom
, unicellular organism of the kingdom Protista, characterized by a silica shell of often intricate and beautiful sculpturing. Most diatoms exist singly, although some join to form colonies.
..... Click the link for more information. ) or of a few cells, are not generally called seaweeds; these tiny plants help to make up plankton. The more highly developed types of seaweed usually have a basal disk, called a holdfast, and a frond of varying length and shape, which often resembles a plant in having stemlike and leaflike parts.

Types of Seaweed

The simplest of the seaweeds are among the cyanobacteriacyanobacteria
or blue-green algae,
photosynthetic bacteria that contain chlorophyll. For many years they were classified in the plant kingdom along with algae, but discoveries made possible by the electron microscope and new biochemical techniques have shown them to be
..... Click the link for more information. , formerly called the blue-green algae, and green algae (division ChlorophytaChlorophyta
, phylum (division) of the kingdom Protista consisting of the photosynthetic organisms commonly known as green algae. The organisms are largely aquatic or marine.
..... Click the link for more information. ), found nearest the shore in shallow waters and usually growing as threadlike filaments, irregular sheets, or branching fronds. The brown algae (division PhaeophytaPhaeophyta
, phylum (division) of the kingdom Protista consisting of those organisms commonly called brown algae. Many of the world's familiar seaweeds are members of Phaeophyta. There are approximately 1,500 species.
..... Click the link for more information. ), in which brown pigment masks the green of the chlorophyll, are the most numerous of the seaweeds of temperate and polar regions. They grow at depths of 50 to 75 ft (15–23 m). The red seaweeds (division RhodophytaRhodophyta
, phylum (division) of the kingdom Protista consisting of the photosynthetic organisms commonly known as red algae. Most of the world's seaweeds belong to this group.
..... Click the link for more information. ), many of them delicate and fernlike, are found at the greatest depths (up to 879 ft/268 m); their red pigment enables them to absorb the blue and violet light present at those depths.

Reproduction in Seaweeds

Seaweeds reproduce in a variety of ways. Lower types reproduce asexually. More advanced kinds produce motile zoospores that swim off, anchor themselves, and grow into new individuals, or they reproduce sexually by forming sex cells (gametes) that, after fusing, follow the same pattern. Sometimes pieces of a seaweed break off and form new plants; in a few species there is a cycle of asexual and sexual reproduction foreshadowing the alternation of generations characteristic of plants.

Common Species and Their Uses

The largest of the green algae, Ulva (sea lettuce), grows to a ribbon or sheet 3 ft (91 cm) long. It provides food for many sea creatures, and its broad surface releases a large amount of oxygen. Fucus, called rockweed or bladderwrack, is a tough, leathery brown alga (though it often looks olive-green) that clings to rocks and has flattened, branched fronds buoyed by air bladders at the tips.

Seaweeds, especially species of the red algae Porphyra (nori) and Chondrus, form an important part of the diet and are farmed for food in China and Japan; other species (often called laver) are eaten in the British Isles and Iceland. Commercial agaragar
, product obtained from several species of red algae, or seaweed, chiefly from the Ceylon, or Jaffna, moss (Gracilaria lichenoides) and species of Gelidium, harvested in eastern Asia and California.
..... Click the link for more information. (vegetable gelatin) is obtained from species of red algae and is the most valuable seaweed product. Irish moss or carrageen (Chondrus crispus), a red alga, is one of the few seaweeds used commercially in the United States. After being bleached in the sun the fronds contain a high proportion of gelatin, which is used for cooking, textile sizing, making cosmetics, and other purposes. In Japan it is made into a shampoo to impart gloss to the hair.

The kelps generally include the many large brown seaweeds and are among the most familiar forms found on North American coasts. Some have fronds up to 200 ft (61 m) long, e.g., the Pacific coast Nereocystis and Macrocystis, found also off the Cape of Good Hope. Common Atlantic species include Laminaria and Agarum (devil's apron). The kelps are a source of salts of iodine and potassium and, to a lesser extent, other minerals. When the seaweed is burned, the soluble mineral compounds are removed from the ashes (also called kelp) by washing. They are used chiefly as chemical reagents and for dietary deficiencies in people and in livestock. Kelp is also a commercial source of potash, fertilizer, and medicines made from its vitamin and mineral content. Kelps are especially abundant in Japan, and various foods known as kombu are made from them.

The brown algae of the genus Sargassum are called gulfweed. They inhabit warm ocean regions and are commonly found floating in large patches in the Sargasso SeaSargasso Sea
, part of the N Atlantic Ocean, lying roughly between the West Indies and the Azores and from about lat. 20°N to lat. 35°N, in the horse latitudes. The relatively still sea is the center of a great swirl of ocean currents known as the North Atlantic
..... Click the link for more information. and in the Gulf Stream. Gulfweed was observed by Columbus. Although it was formerly thought to cover the whole Sargasso Sea, making navigation impossible, it has since been found to occur only in drifts. Numerous berrylike air sacs keep the branching plant afloat. The thick masses of gulfweed provide the environment for a distinctive and specialized group of marine forms, many of which are not found elsewhere.

seaweed

[′sē‚wēd] (botany) A marine plant, especially algae.

seaweed

1. any of numerous multicellular marine algae that grow on the seashore, in salt marshes, in brackish water, or submerged in the ocean 2. any of certain other plants that grow in or close to the sea

seaweed

sea·weed

seaweed

sea•weed

sea·weed

sea

seaweed

seaweed

seaweed,

Types of Seaweed

Reproduction in Seaweeds

Common Species and Their Uses

seaweed

seaweed

seaweed

seaweed

Sargassam

seaweed

Words related to seaweed

noun plant growing in the sea, especially marine algae

Related Words