Portuguese man-of-war

noun

any of several large, oceanic hydrozoans of the genus Physalia, having a large, bladderlike structure with a saillike crest by which they are buoyed up and from which dangle tentacles with stinging cells.

Origin of Portuguese man-of-war

First recorded in 1700–10

British Dictionary definitions for portuguese man-of-war

Portuguese man-of-war

noun

any of several large complex colonial hydrozoans of the genus Physalia, esp P. physalis, having an aerial float and long stinging tentacles: order Siphonophora Sometimes shortened to: man-of-war