STARFISH
starfish, sea star
(noun) echinoderms characterized by five arms extending from a central disk
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
starfish (plural starfishes or starfish)
Any of various asteroids or other echinoderms (not in fact fish) with usually five arms, many of which eat bivalves or corals by everting their stomach.
(obsolete) Any many-armed or tentacled sea invertebrate, whether cnidarian, echinoderm, or cephalopod.
(slang) A woman who reluctantly takes part in sexual intercourse, and lays on her back while spreading her limbs.
(vulgar, slang, usually in translations of Japanese pornography) The anus.
Synonym: chocolate starfish
Synonyms
• (various echinoderms): sea star, asteroid
• (inactive sexual partner): cold fish, dead fish
Verb
starfish (third-person singular simple present starfishes, present participle starfishing, simple past and past participle starfished)
(intransitive) To assume a splayed-out shape, like that of a starfish.
(transitive) To form into a splayed-out shape, like that of a starfish.
Source: Wiktionary
Star"fish, n.
1. (Zoöl.)
Definition: Any one of numerous species of echinoderms belonging to the
class Asterioidea, in which the body is star-shaped and usually has
five rays, though the number of rays varies from five to forty or
more. The rays are often long, but are sometimes so short as to
appear only as angles to the disklike body. Called also sea star,
five-finger, and stellerid.
Note: The ophiuroids are also sometimes called starfishes. See
Brittle star, and Ophiuroidea.
2. (Zoöl.)
Definition: The dollar fish, or butterfish.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition