sea-purse
Also (in sense 4) sea-pouce, -puss, -poose.
1. A zoophyte of the genus Alcyonium. ? Obs.
| 1806 W. Turton Linn. Syst. Nat. IV. 653 Alcyonium Bursa..Sea Purse. |
2. The horny egg-case of a skate, ray, or shark; a mermaid's purse.
| 1856 Eng. Cycl., Nat. Hist. IV. 530 The young [of Skates] are deposited..in their horny cases... These..are sometimes called sea-purses. 1891 C. L. Morgan Anim. Life & Intell. 220 Each is also protected by a horny case with pointed corners—the so called sea-purse of seaside visitors. |
3. A siphonaceous alga, Codium bursa, which resembles a sponge.
| 1853 Eng. Cycl., Nat. Hist. I. 115 Codium, the Sea-Purse, is a hollow, sub-globose, dark green plant, composed [etc.]. |
4. U.S., Atlantic coast. [ad. the Algonquian language Munsee (Delaware) sepoûs, brook, small river: see Mathews Dict. Americanisms (1951).] A swirl of the undertow or a double undertow formed by two waves meeting at an angle, making a small whirlpool on the surface of the water, dangerous to bathers.
| 1842 W. P. Hawes Sporting Scenes I. 102, I kept watch of him—when I came to a sea poose—I went in and to the east of it. 1891 Century Dict., Sea-purse,..2. A swirl of the undertow [etc.]... Also called sea-pouce and sea-puss. 1896 Athletic Sports, Surf & Surf bathing (1898) 247 As the word is ignored by Webster, I shall invent my own spelling and write it ‘sea-poose’. This term is loosely used in different parts of the coast. 1904 N.Y. Tribune 29 May ii. 7/1 McDonald was a good swimmer, but, getting caught in a sea puss, was shot out to the deep sea with great velocity. 1932 Sun (Baltimore) 5 Sept. 6/3 The sea-purse swooped in and picked up a girl bather, who was suddenly seen to whirl about on the surface of the water like a cork. |