Definition of "manatee" []

• Any of various herbivorous aquatic mammals of the genus Trichechus, having paddlelike front flippers and a horizontally flattened tail and found in warm coastal waters of Florida, northern South America, West Africa, and the Caribbean. (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.

• "Whiskers the manatee is an ambassador for his imperiled species."
• "Needless to say, Debbie, the manatee is better looking & less obese than you."
• "This belief in mermen, possible originating with the caricatures of the human face in the intelligent seal and stupid manatee, is universal."