Definition of "obelia" []

• Any of various colonial marine hydroids of the genus Obelia, having various specialized feeding and reproductive polyps and growing in a branchlike form. Colonies of obelia are found as a delicate furlike growth on the wooden piles of piers and wharves. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.