water flea
noun
: any of various small active dark or brightly colored aquatic crustaceans (such as a daphnia or cyclops)
Examples of water flea in a Sentence
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The water flea is actually a crustacean, not a flea, and gets its name from its swimming motion, which resembles the movements of a flea.
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Matt Nighswander, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2025
There were few predatory largemouth bass to eat minnows, which ran rampant and ate the water fleas that would otherwise have kept the algae in check.
—Gregory Barber, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
One type of water flea, Chydoridae, basically disappeared from the South Side stretch known as Bubbly Creek, while another, Moinidae, experienced a dramatic population surge.
—Nara Schoenberg, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
Compare that number to a water flea, which has 30,000.
—Chris Westfall, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
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Matt Nighswander, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2025
There were few predatory largemouth bass to eat minnows, which ran rampant and ate the water fleas that would otherwise have kept the algae in check.
—Gregory Barber, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
One type of water flea, Chydoridae, basically disappeared from the South Side stretch known as Bubbly Creek, while another, Moinidae, experienced a dramatic population surge.
—Nara Schoenberg, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
Compare that number to a water flea, which has 30,000.
—Chris Westfall, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for water flea
Cite this Entry
“Water flea.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water%20flea. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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