manta ray

Variant of manta

manta definition

manta (man′tə; Sp män′tä)

noun

  1. ☆
    1. coarse cotton cloth used for cheap shawls, capes, etc. in Spanish America
    2. a shawl, cape, etc. made of this
  2. ☆ a horse blanket or horse cloth
  3. any of a family (Mobulidae, order Myliobatiformes) of usually giant rays with winglike pectoral fins, living near the surface of warm seas while feeding on plankton or small fish; devilfish
    also manta ray

Etymology: Sp < LL mantum, a cloak, prob. back-form. < L mantellum: see mantle

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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