pinniped

noun

pin·​ni·​ped ˈpi-nə-ˌped 

: any of an order or suborder (Pinnipedia) of aquatic carnivorous mammals (such as a seal or walrus) with all four limbs modified into flippers

pinniped adjective

Examples of pinniped in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The rescue team was called by Carlsbad police around 10 p.m. after the pinniped was spotted in the bike lane of Carlsbad Boulevard north of Island Way, near the Pelican Point beach campground, officials said. —Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2025

This remote sandbar off the coast of Nova Scotia is where the pinnipeds rest, breed, give birth to their pups, and mingle with the island’s wild horses. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 14 Feb. 2025

Whether the larger numbers of pinnipeds have much of an effect on our kelp forests may be worth studying. —Bill Tippets, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Feb. 2025

At least twenty big cats died at a Washington animal sanctuary in Washington last month and tens of thousands of pinnipeds in South America died from the disease in 2023. —Kale Williams, Axios, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

ultimately from Latin pinna + ped-, pes foot — more at foot

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

pinniped

noun

pin·​ni·​ped ˈpi-nə-ˌped 

: any of a group of mammals (as seals, sea lions, and walruses) that typically live in oceans but bear their young on land or on floating sheets of ice, have front and hind flippers, and eat other animals (as fish)