algae — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Algal organisms viewed collectively or as a mass; algal growth.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   It has been disputed whether the sounds thus made are produced by the grating of the creature's tongue-ribbon on the glass, as it files off small particles of algae and vegetable moulds, which are invisible to our eyes...

   Algae grows best in shallow water, 3 inches (7.5 cm) deep or less, especially where poor seedbed preparation has created low areas with poor surface drainage, and in fields with inadequate decomposition of organic matter.

   Unlike seaweed, which grows in salt water, algae grows in freshwater ponds (chlorella or spirulina) or wild in the Pacific Northwest (Klamath blue green).

   More examples (1)

   An algae bloom has killed thousands of fish in the San Francisco Bay Area in recent weeks, officials say, forcing shoreline cleanups, spreading unpleasant odor and spurring scientists to further investigate the extent of the ecological damage.

2. A particular kind of alga.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • usually

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Among these valuable water plants, I noted various seaweed: some Cladostephus verticillatus, peacock's tails, fig-leafed caulerpa, grain-bearing beauty bushes, delicate rosetangle tinted scarlet, sea colander arranged into fan shapes, mermaid's cups that looked like the caps of squat mushrooms and for years had been classified among the zoophytes; in short, a complete series of algae.

   This hollow, lumpy, yellow-brown algae grows epiphytically in sac-like clumps on large seaweeds and on rocks.

   This algae grows relatively quickly, even in temporary ponds and water holes in the desert, so it remained widely known.

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   Although often lumped together, spirulina is a blue-green algae whereas chlorella is a green algae.

Noun

1. primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves

   Synonyms

   alga

   Broader terms

   protoctist