algae

Noun

algae (usually uncountable, plural algae or algaes)

1. (usually) Algal organisms viewed collectively or as a mass; algal growth.
   • 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...1902, B. Lindsay, “Chapter 7”, in The Story of Animal Life
   • 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.1993, Integrated Pest Management for Rice, 2nd Ed., page 54
2. (countable, usually) A particular kind of alga.
   • 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...1870, Jules Verne, “Chapter 12”, in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas
   • This hollow, lumpy, yellow-brown algae grows epiphytically in sac-like clumps on large seaweeds and on rocks.1984, Deborah A. Coulombe, The Seaside Naturalist: A Guide to Study at the Seashore, page 33