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brain coral
noun
: a massive reef-building coral (such as genus Diploria) having the surface covered by ridges and furrows
Examples of brain coral in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Over several evenings, more than 75% of the Center's brain coral colonies reproduced, creating nearly a half-million larvae.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 24 Sep. 2024
Altogether 37 colonies of elkhorn and brain coral made the journey.
—Jenny Staletovich, NPR, 22 June 2024
Three species of sea turtles nest at the park, brain coral abound, and both endangered brown pelicans and threatened least terns call it home.
—Melissa Locker, Travel + Leisure, 25 Apr. 2024
Thickets of wild elkhorn and mounds of brain coral were bleached or already dead.
—Catrin Einhorn Jason Gulley, New York Times, 31 July 2023
The Maldives: Modeling a city on a brain coral Few countries are more at risk from the climate crisis than the Maldives.
—Laura Paddison, CNN, 26 Mar. 2023
The skeleton design takes inspiration from nature: Many species such as brain corals grow in a dome shape, while branching or plate corals grow upward from a solid base.
—WIRED, 16 Feb. 2023
On the reef, Chamberland finishes her inspection of the brain coral and leaves the butterflyfish to their vigil.
—Michelle Nijhuis, Discover Magazine, 12 Oct. 2018
The staghorn, elkhorn and brain coral living in Government Cut provide a real-world example of how coral communities can adapt to such things as rising heat and polluted runoff, even in such an unlikely setting as the port of Miami.
—Curt Anderson and Cody Jackson, Anchorage Daily News, 9 May 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brain coral.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
circa 1711, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near brain coral
Cite this Entry
“Brain coral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brain%20coral. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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