Illustration of fur seal
fur seal
noun
: any of various eared seals that have a double coat with a dense soft underfur and were hunted especially formerly for their desirable pelts:
a
: a large seal (Callorhinus ursinus) of the northern Pacific Ocean having its main breeding rookery on Pribilof Island in the Bering Sea
called also northern fur seal
b
: any of a genus (Arctocephalus) of seals chiefly of the southern hemisphere
called also southern fur seal
Examples of fur seal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
When Theodore Roosevelt signed legislation creating the department, in 1903, it was tasked with applying immigration law, taking the census, and protecting Alaskan fur seals.
—
Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
The surviving crew fixed the ship, stocked it full of hundreds of the sea otters, foxes and fur seals that were abundant there, and returned to Siberia, impressing Russian fur hunters with their valuable cargo.
—William L. Iggiagruk Hensley, The Conversation, 29 Mar. 2017
And Cape fur seals, the sharks’ main prey at Seal Island, seemed to respond quickly.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
During the colder months, many would patrol the waters around Seal Island, where tens of thousands of Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) clustered.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
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Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
The surviving crew fixed the ship, stocked it full of hundreds of the sea otters, foxes and fur seals that were abundant there, and returned to Siberia, impressing Russian fur hunters with their valuable cargo.
—William L. Iggiagruk Hensley, The Conversation, 29 Mar. 2017
And Cape fur seals, the sharks’ main prey at Seal Island, seemed to respond quickly.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
During the colder months, many would patrol the waters around Seal Island, where tens of thousands of Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) clustered.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fur seal
Cite this Entry
“Fur seal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fur%20seal. Accessed 1 Aug. 2025.
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