The Collaborative International Dictionary
manatee \man`a*tee"\, n. [Sp. manat['i], from the native name in Haiti. Cf. Lamantin.] (Zo["o]l.) Any species of Trichechus, a genus of sirenians; -- called also sea cow. [Written also manaty, manati.]
Note: One species ( Trichechus Senegalensis) inhabits the west coast of Africa; another ( Trichechus Americanus) inhabits the east coast of South America, and the West-Indies. The Florida manatee ( Trichechus latirostris) is by some considered a distinct species, by others it is thought to be a variety of Trichechus Americanus. It sometimes becomes fifteen feet or more in length, and lives both in fresh and salt water. It was hunted for its oil and flesh, and every species is now an endangered species.
Wiktionary
n. Any of several marine mammals of the order ''Sirenia'', including the manatee and dugong.
WordNet
n. any of two families of large herbivorous aquatic mammals with paddle-shaped tails and flipper-like forelimbs and no hind limbs [syn: sirenian mammal, sirenian]
Usage examples of "sea cow".
No one but a sea cow or a seal would have dreamed of there being such a place, and when he looked back at the cliffs even Kotick could hardly believe that he had been under them.
Presently, this animal, the sea cow, bears the name of the Steller's sea cow.
Booger's breadth of rumination was therefore limited to a daily quest for warm quiet waters, tasty seaweed, and (once in a great while) clumsy sea cow sex.