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Definition of pelican eel
pelican eel
Plural:pelican eels
pelican eel Lexical Profile
CEFR
C2
Grade
9
Tier
3
Usage
Rare
• noun
1
A deep-sea, eel-like fish (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) found in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, distinguished by its enormously disproportionate mouth and pouch-like lower jaw used to engulf large prey.
Example
"During the deep-sea submersible expedition, the marine biologists were thrilled to capture rare footage of a pelican eel inflating its massive jaws in the abyssal zone."
Synonyms
View all synonyms for pelican eel• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Named for the resemblance of its massive, distensible lower jaw to the throat pouch of a pelican, combined with its serpentine, eel-like body shape.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.
180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer
Cite this Entry
Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Pelican eel. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Oct 15, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/pelican eel