CORAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does coral mean? 

• CORAL (noun)
  The noun CORAL has 4 senses:

1. a variable color averaging a deep pink

2. the hard stony skeleton of a Mediterranean coral that has a delicate red or pink color and is used for jewelry

3. unfertilized lobster roe; reddens in cooking; used as garnish or to color sauces

4. marine colonial polyp characterized by a calcareous skeleton; masses in a variety of shapes often forming reefs

  Familiarity information: CORAL used as a noun is uncommon.

• CORAL (adjective)
  The adjective CORAL has 1 sense:

1. of a strong pink to yellowish-pink color

  Familiarity information: CORAL used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CORAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A variable color averaging a deep pink

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("coral" is a kind of...):

pink (a light shade of red)

Derivation:

coral (of a strong pink to yellowish-pink color)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The hard stony skeleton of a Mediterranean coral that has a delicate red or pink color and is used for jewelry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

coral; precious coral; red coral

Hypernyms ("coral" is a kind of...):

opaque gem (a gemstone that is opaque)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Unfertilized lobster roe; reddens in cooking; used as garnish or to color sauces

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("coral" is a kind of...):

hard roe; roe (fish eggs or egg-filled ovary; having a grainy texture)

Holonyms ("coral" is a part of...):

lobster (flesh of a lobster)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Marine colonial polyp characterized by a calcareous skeleton; masses in a variety of shapes often forming reefs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("coral" is a kind of...):

actinozoan; anthozoan (sessile marine coelenterates including solitary and colonial polyps; the medusoid phase is entirely suppressed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "coral"):

gorgonian; gorgonian coral (corals having a horny or calcareous branching skeleton)

madrepore; madriporian coral; stony coral (corals having calcareous skeletons aggregations of which form reefs and islands)

• CORAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of a strong pink to yellowish-pink color

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

Derivation:

coral (a variable color averaging a deep pink)

 Context examples 

The idea behind ‘acoustic enrichment’ is that this can help kick-start coral reef recovery.

(Loudspeakers used to attract fish back to dying coral reefs, SciDev.Net)

Protecting marine life could help the oceans to function better, soaking up more carbon and providing barriers against sea level rises and storm surges, in the form of coral reefs and mangrove swamps.

(Oceans running out of oxygen at unprecedented rate, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

"We can't manage climate damage to coral reefs until we better understand how pollution and disease magnify the impacts of heat stress," Harvell said.

(Sea fan corals face new threat in warming ocean: copper, National Science Foundation)

Overfishing the waters near coral reefs, however, removes the primary algae-eaters from the environment, allowing populations of fleshy algae to explode.

(Too much algae and too many microbes threaten coral reefs, NSF)

The secretion of CaCO[SUB]3[/SUB] by coral forms yearly growth bands; one yearly growth band contains two smaller bands representing winter growth and summer growth.

(Growth band, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

God help the poor souls that manned her—coral long ago.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Plastics can cause physical injury to coral tissues, facilitating invasion of pathogens associated with disease outbreaks, the study says.

(Plastic debris linked to coral disease, death, SciDev.Net)

The scientists are also testing whether other at-risk ecosystems — such as seagrass meadows and coral reefs — may be similarly protected by mutualistic relationships between keystone species.

(Biodiversity in salt marshes builds climate resilience, NSF)

Microorganisms play important roles in the health and protection of coral reefs, but exploring these roles can be difficult because of the lack of unspoiled reef systems throughout the global ocean.

(Microbes reflect the health of coral reefs, National Science Foundation)

But as he watched it grow in definiteness he saw that it was a coral reef smoking in the white Pacific surges.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)