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mermaid definition

mer·maid (mʉr′mād′)

noun

  1. an imaginary sea creature with the head and upper body of a beautiful woman and the tail of a fish
  2. a girl or woman who swims well

Etymology: ME mermayde: see mere & maid

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

mermaid Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • catch: To his great surprise he found he had caught a beautiful mermaid.

Adjective modifier

  • beautiful: Under the sea, the beautiful mermaid is denied the prospect of true love.

Preposition: on

  • beach: But his luck changes when he meets a distressed mermaid on the beach after a storm and decides to protect her.

Modifies a noun

  • purse: Mermaids purse in a pink coral Photo: Simon Rogerson Why go there?

Possessives

  • purse: A real treat was to find a mermaid's purse entwined in the seaweed.

Noun used with modifier

  • fairy: When they were asleep, the fairy mermaid charmed her golden sword and then she also lay down to rest herself.
mermaid usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

mermaid quotes

   What things have we seen, Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been So nimble, and so full of subtil flame, As if that every one from whence they came, Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest, And had resolv'd to live a fool, the rest Of his dull life.

-Beaumont, Francis

This wench we speak of strays so from her kind, Nature repents she made her; 'tis a mermaid Has tolled my son to shipwreck

-Dekker,Thomas

Souls of Poets dead and gone What Elysium have ye known, Happy field or mossy cavern, Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?

-Keats,John

mermaid quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"mermaid." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/mermaid>

APA Style

mermaid. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/mermaid

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