krill

noun

: planktonic crustaceans and their larvae (order or suborder Euphausiacea and especially genus Euphausia) that constitute the principal food of baleen whales

Examples of krill in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Spanning several years, the intense marine heatwave disrupted the food chain, including tiny organisms like krill that feed larger animals like whales. Lauren Sommer, NPR, 29 Feb. 2024 And as global warming melts sea ice at staggering rates, the habitat for krill is shrinking and humpback pregnancies are dropping. Bill Weir, CNN, 4 Feb. 2024 As humpbacks and even blue whales rebound in the South Atlantic Ocean, some researchers worry there won’t be enough krill to feed them. Douglas Main, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Jan. 2024 Phytoplankton are the backbone of the marine food web, and these tiny organisms support everything from tiny krill and fish up to marine mammals and seabirds. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 12 July 2023 Staff initially fed it a blended formula of fish, krill and vitamins and have now moved on to feeding it the formula plus some pieces of fish a few times a day. Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Feb. 2024 The opening of California’s commercial crab season, which normally starts in November, is delayed once again to protect humpback whales foraging for krill and anchovies along the coast. Delger Erdenesanaa, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2023 The whales feast on massive numbers of krill to make up for their meager serving size, but near-coast waters can’t support large populations of animals, even small ones. Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 2 Aug. 2023 Regulating krill Much of the fight over krill is taking place thousands of miles away from the fishing grounds, in a former 19th century boarding school on the Australian island of Tasmania. Joshua Goodman, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'krill.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Norwegian kril fry of fish

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of krill was in 1907

Dictionary Entries Near krill

Cite this Entry

“Krill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/krill. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

krill

noun
: small crustaceans and their larvae that make up plankton and form a major food of baleen whales

More from Merriam-Webster on krill

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