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sea lion
noun
: any of several Pacific eared seals (such as genera Eumetopias and Zalophus) that are usually larger than the related fur seals and lack a thick underfur
Examples of sea lion in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
By comparison, transient or Biggs killer whales will eat bigger prey including other marine mammals, including sea lions, dolphins, and other whales.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 15 May 2024
During the last sea lion surge in 2009, there was also a big school of anchovies off the bay — but food deserts for the sea lions elsewhere, Ratner said.
—Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2024
Read Next California 1,000 sea lions gather at CA pier, video shows.
—Helena Wegner, Sacramento Bee, 7 May 2024
These yearly variations likely come as sea lions follow food—from spring to spring, fish populations move across different regions, and the sea lions’ presence has fluctuated accordingly.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 May 2024
Since then, the virus has propagated down through the Americas, killing tens of millions of birds and, perhaps more concerning, infecting dozens of mammalian species: bottlenose dolphins in Florida; sea lions in Peru; elephant seals on the islands near Antarctica.
—Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 5 May 2024
The sea lion crowd grew from a handful that September to about 150 by January 1990, Ratner said.
—Emma Bowman, NPR, 4 May 2024
About 1,000 sea lions can be spotted, the most since 2009.
—Jane Tyska, The Mercury News, 3 May 2024
With a steady food supply from a large school of anchovy, the sea lions are extra active!
—Don Sweeney, Sacramento Bee, 1 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sea lion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1697, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near sea lion
Cite this Entry
“Sea lion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sea%20lion. Accessed 20 May. 2024.
Kids Definition
sea lion
noun
: any of several large Pacific seals that have small ears on the outside of the body
More from Merriam-Webster on sea lion
Nglish: Translation of sea lion for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sea lion
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