Definition of "dinoflagellate" []

• Any of numerous minute, chiefly marine protozoans of the order Dinoflagellata, characteristically having two flagella and a cellulose covering and forming one of the chief constituents of plankton. They include bioluminescent forms and forms that produce red tide. (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.

• "The red tide in San Diego this fall was caused by a bloom of billions of a microscopic organism called a dinoflagellate, said Peter J. S. Franks, a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography there."
• "The researchers studied the behavior of the algal cell Karlodinium veneficum, known as a dinoflagellate and found in estuaries worldwide."
• "Karlodinium veneficum, known as a dinoflagellate and found in estuaries worldwide."