pinniped
noun
pin·ni·ped
ˈpi-nə-ˌped 
: any of an order or suborder (Pinnipedia) of aquatic carnivorous mammals (such as a seal or walrus) with all four limbs modified into flippers
pinniped
adjective
Examples of pinniped in a Sentence
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That section once held a restaurant, a public restroom building, and several sea lion viewing holes — openings in the decking used to watch the pinnipeds lolling on the crossbeams below.
—
Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2025
But public access to The Cove remains unrestricted, and with few city regulations in place there, rangers have less ability to cite people who don’t stay away from the pinnipeds.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2025
With the Pacific Northwest’s once-teeming salmon runs now just a thin trickle, the growing numbers of hungry pinnipeds have an outsize impact.
—Cheryl Katz, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
The group also had questions about any deterrent systems to keep the pinnipeds from coming on land at The Cove.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2025
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Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2025
But public access to The Cove remains unrestricted, and with few city regulations in place there, rangers have less ability to cite people who don’t stay away from the pinnipeds.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2025
With the Pacific Northwest’s once-teeming salmon runs now just a thin trickle, the growing numbers of hungry pinnipeds have an outsize impact.
—Cheryl Katz, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
The group also had questions about any deterrent systems to keep the pinnipeds from coming on land at The Cove.
—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pinniped
Cite this Entry
“Pinniped.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pinniped. Accessed 24 Jun. 2025.
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pinniped
noun
pin·ni·ped
ˈpi-nə-ˌped
: any of a group of mammals (as seals, sea lions, and walruses) that typically live in oceans but bear their young on land or on floating sheets of ice, have front and hind flippers, and eat other animals (as fish)
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