Definition of "trepang" [tre•pang]

• A sea cucumber of the genus Holothuria of the southern Pacific and Indian oceans, dried or smoked for use as an ingredient in soup, especially in China and Indonesia. Also called bêche-de-mer. (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.

• "[74] The balate -- also known as "sea slug," "sea cucumber," "beche de mer," and commercially as "trepang" -- is a slug (_Holothuria edulis_) used as food in the Eastern Archipelago and in China, in which country it is regarded as a delicacy by the wealthy classes, and brings from seven to fifty cents a pound in the markets."
• "The trepang is a sort of sea-slug, which is dried and used by the Chinese to make soup."
• "-- There are a few species of _Holothuria_, of which the trepang is the best known example."