plankton
plankton — noun
1. tiny life forms in water, both plant-like and animal-like, that are carried by c
tiny life forms in water, both plant-like and animal-like, that are carried by currents and are eaten by many larger sea animals
Baby whales feed on plankton near the cold coast each spring.
collocation: feed on plankton
By July, plankton filled the bay and turned the water green.
plankton bloom turning water green
The science class found plankton in a beach sample under the microscope.
Plankton drifted near the surface, where young fish came to feed.
Plankton was measured in each jar from the river mouth.
- microorganisms
broader; it can include tiny living things outside water as well
- algae
narrower; this covers only the plant-like side, not tiny drifting animals
- marine life
much broader; it includes all kinds of life in the sea, large and small
文法句型
feed on plankton
plankton in the water
a plankton bloom
用法筆記
Usually treated as an uncountable mass noun in general English, so speakers say some plankton or much plankton, not a plankton or planktons. In science, it often names the whole drifting community in a piece of water, not one single creature.