Word.ws English Dictionary

sea lion

/ˈsiː ˈlaɪən/

sea lion noun: a pinniped of most genera in the family Otariidae (the eared seals). Also the alternative form of sealion.

sea lion: a pinniped of most genera in the family Otariidae (the eared seals)
Image: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

sea lion (plural sea lions)

  1. A pinniped of most genera in the family Otariidae (the eared seals).
    • Near-synonym: sea puppy (a seal; informal, humorous)
    • But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    sea puppy
  2. A monster consisting of the upper part of a lion combined with the tail of a fish (a lion marined).
  3. (US, historical, slang) A steamer transporting cattle from the ports of Texas.
  4. (US, historical, slang) A cow or bull transported by steamer from the ports of Texas.

Also used as

sea lion is also the alternative form of sealion.

sea lion meaning in Arabic, Malay and Thai

sea lion in Arabic

member of the Otariidae family
أَسَد بَحْر ʔasad baḥr, كَلْب البَحْر kalb al-baḥr

sea lion in Malay

member of the Otariidae family
singa laut

sea lion in Thai

member of the Otariidae family
สิงโตทะเล sǐng-dtoo-tá-lee

Examples of sea lion in a sentence

  • Sea lion pups are born with baby teeth, but most of these are replaced with permanent adult teeth by the time the pup is four months old.2013, Caroline Arnold, Sea Lion, page 28:
  • When people ask me what the circus is really like behind the scenes, I tell them about runaway gypsy wagons, vanished acrobats, desperate ringmasters and recalcitrant sea lions to name a few.2013, Paul Binder, Never Quote the Weather to a Sea Lion: And Other Uncommon Tales from the Founder of the Big Apple Circus, page 6:

Synonyms of sea lion

Forms of sea lion

Noun
pluralsea lions
alternative formsea-lion
alternative uncommonsealion
Verb
third-person singular presentsea lions
present participlesea lioning
past participlesea lioned
pastsea lioned

Origin of sea lion

From sea + lion, named from its marine habitat and its lion-like barking roar and mane. Compare Middle English see hound, cee-hound, se hound (“beaver”, literally “sea-hound”).

Words formed from sea lion

Questions about sea lion

What does sea lion mean?
Sea lion means a pinniped of most genera in the family Otariidae (the eared seals).
What is sea lion in Arabic?
Sea lion in Arabic is أَسَد بَحْر (ʔasad baḥr), كَلْب البَحْر (kalb al-baḥr). See Sea lion meaning in Arabic.
How do you use sea lion in a sentence?
Sea lion pups are born with baby teeth, but most of these are replaced with permanent adult teeth by the time the pup is four months old.
What part of speech is sea lion?
Sea lion is a noun.
How do you pronounce sea lion?
Sea lion is pronounced /ˈsiː ˈlaɪən/.
What is the plural of sea lion?
The plural of sea lion is sea lions.

Words near sea lion in the dictionary

  1. sea lights
  2. sea lilies
  3. sea lily
  4. sea link
  5. sea links
  6. sea lion
  7. sea lioned
  8. sea lioning
  9. sea lions
  10. sea liquor
  11. sea liver

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sea lion (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sea lion.wav.

Cite this entry: “sea lion.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sea_lion. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.