cannonball jellyfish

noun

: a nearly globular, scyphozoan jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris) of warm waters that has a greatly reduced mouth, short oral arms, and no tentacles and that often occurs in swarms many miles in extent

But cannonball jellyfish don't sting unless they're picked up. The long-strand tentacled jellyfish also known as sea nettles and Portuguese man of war are much more dangerous and menacing …

—Drew Dixon, Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville), 21 Apr. 2011

Fishing boats from beleaguered Gulf Coast towns could be on the water by next month trawling for cannonball jellyfish, a fist-sized mass of fiber that's inspiring dreams of wealth. Officials see jellyfish as a product ready for export to Asia, where it is popular in Chinese, Thai and Korean cooking.

—John Kennedy, Orlando Sentinel, 15 July 1996

called also cabbagehead jellyfish, jellyball

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above

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