bêche-de-mer
[ besh-duh-mair, beysh- ]
/ ˌbɛʃ dəˈmɛər, ˌbeɪʃ- /
noun, plural bêch·es-de-mer, (especially collectively) bêche-de-mer for 1.
a trepang.
Often Bêche-de-Mer.
Neo-Melanesian.
Origin of bêche-de-mer
1805–15; erroneously for French
biche de mer < Portuguese
bicho do mar literally, animal of the sea; cf.
Beach-la-Mar
Words nearby bêche-de-mer
Example sentences from the Web for beche-de-mer
We must fill the three schooners with copra and beche-de-mer.
South Sea Tales |Jack LondonThere were traders old and young, beche-de-mer fishermen, old beach-combers and blackbirders.
Through the South Seas with Jack London |Martin JohnsonOn the reefs of the Southern Ocean is found a kind of sea-slug termed the Beche-de-mer.
British Dictionary definitions for beche-de-mer
bêche-de-mer
/ (ˌbɛʃdəˈmɛə) /
noun plural bêches-de-mer (ˌbɛʃdəˈmɛə) or bêche-de-mer
another name for trepang
See Beach-la-Mar
Word Origin for bêche-de-mer
C19: quasi-French, from earlier English
biche de mer, from Portuguese
bicho do mar worm of the sea