Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as gulf-weed.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) The gulf weed. See under gulf.
  • noun a large tract of the North Atlantic Ocean where sargasso in great abundance floats on the surface.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A brown alga, of genus Sargassum, that forms large, floating masses

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun brown algae with rounded bladders forming dense floating masses in tropical Atlantic waters as in the Sargasso Sea

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Portuguese sargaço.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Portuguese sargasso ("sargasso").

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Examples

  • The name "sargasso 'derived from the Portuguese word for grapes," sargaco, "because sargasso weed has little air bladders which resemble the fruit.

    unknown title 2009

  • These eddies or stagnant parts are called sargasso seas.

    Sunk at Sea 1859

  • An extensive tract of water is this, inclosed by the warm current of the Gulf Stream, and thickly covered with the wrack, called by the Spaniards "sargasso," the abundance of which so seriously impeded the progress of Columbus's vessel on his first voyage.

    The Survivors of the Chancellor 1911

  • An extensive tract of water is this, enclosed by the warm current of the Gulf Stream, and thickly covered with the wrack, called by the Spaniards "sargasso," the abundance of which so seriously impeded the progress of Columbus's vessels on his first voyage across the ocean.

    The Survivors of the Chancellor, diary of J.R. Kazallon, passenger Jules Verne 1866

  • Apparently Anetene decided the sargasso was a big enough booby trap all by itself. "

    Sun of Suns 2006

  • I was curious as I had never heard of anything called "Sargasso Planet", SF or otherwise (sargasso sea yes, planet, no).

    What Is Sargasso Planet? 2009

  • You and your bigfoot crap: I wrote a story published in Biker 10 years ago about bikers vs. a Bigfoot and I never see THAT bandied about this site like a cheap tawdry bimbo like I do YOUR Bigfoot sargasso coils of suffocating morasses of life-choking monotony book-cover exhaustions.

    Dare to Compare Bill Crider 2007

  • That looked small next to the green one, ten feet high, twenty across, bigger than any SUV lining the street—green and white, something nautical about it, like weeds flung across the wide sargasso sea—except sylvan.

    Kevin Killian: What I Saw at the Orono Conference 2008, part 17 Dodie Bellamy 2008

  • That looked small next to the green one, ten feet high, twenty across, bigger than any SUV lining the street—green and white, something nautical about it, like weeds flung across the wide sargasso sea—except sylvan.

    Archive 2008-10-01 Dodie Bellamy 2008

  • But at Kennedy, there was a sargasso sea of low-class Urkels to endure while picking up your luggage.

    Time to Reboot My Privilege : Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits 2008

Comments

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  • See usage note on copepod.

    I knew about the Sargasso Sea, but didn't know this word also denotes an organism.

    February 20, 2008