manta

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
“
I just looked out the window and it looked like a huge manta was about to attack the building.

View all »
Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A rough-textured cotton fabric or blanket made and used in Spanish America and the southwest United States.
  2. noun Any of several rays of the family Mobulidae, inhabiting tropical and subtropical seas and having a large flattened body, winglike pectoral fins, a whiplike tail, and two hornlike fins that project forward from the head. Also called devilfish, manta ray, sea devil.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The demon followed me, moving as silently as a manta ray slipping through dark water. —  Lilith Saintcrow - [Dante Valentine 1] - Working for the Devil
  • The intruder hadn't messed with my stored memories, so except for a few fuzzy moments before the takeover, I was myself again The shuttle was immense, a huge manta-shaped lifting body with a gaping atmosphere intake and dorsal doors open to expose a payload bay big enough to hold half a dozen little boosters like me. —  FSF,February2008
  • That towline must remain slack or the manta will dive under the water. —  Scientific American
  • But what is best about the iQ is its eye-catching design, inspired by curves and texture from nature, such as the conch shell and manta ray, making it stylish and fun, Nakajima said. —  SouthCoastToday.com Latest Headlines
  • And the crocodile winking eyes of manta rays that thought I could not see them buried beneath the bone white sand at the bottom. —  Reluctant Memsahib
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 44 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Spanish, blanket, manta (from its blanketlike shape), alteration of manto, cloak, perhaps from Latin mantellum, mantēlum.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Spanish (and Portuguese), a blanket: see mantle.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈmæntə/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a year.

Recently looked up

oft-quoted · horse-sacrifice · hiring · hexameter · excites

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

qualms · poofter · oh for heaven's sake · embodies · silence