Main Entry:

Portuguese man–of–war

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural Portuguese man–of–wars also Portuguese men–of–war

Date:

1707

: any of a genus (Physalia of the family Physaliidae) of large tropical and subtropical pelagic siphonophores having a crested bladderlike float which bears the colony comprised of three types of zooids on the lower surface with one of the three having nematocyst-equipped tentacles

[Portuguese man-of-war illustration]