The Collaborative International Dictionary
Free-swimming \Free"-swim`ming\, a. (Zo["o]l.)
Swimming in the open sea; -- said of certain marine animals.
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(Zoology) able to swim about; not attached to a stationary object; -- of aquatic animals. [WordNet sense 1]
Syn: unattached.
WordNet
adj. (of animals) able to swim about; not attached [syn: unattached]
Usage examples of "free-swimming".
After a brief free-swimming phase, the haptophytes constructed for themselves tiny, intricate suits of armor from calcium carbonate.
Merovan Sea Life The Merovan oceans cover a great portion of the globe and abound with life both bathic and free-swimming.
Flounders and other flatfish on Earth start life with the usual bilateral symmetry, with an eye on either side, like free-swimming fish.
Sharks in general aren't flattened from side to side as free-swimming bony fish like herrings are.