coral

noun

• 1a hard stony substance secreted by certain marine coelenterates as an external skeleton, typically forming large reefs in warm seas: [as modifier]:a coral reef
• precious red coral, used in jewelry.
• the pinkish-red color of red coral.

• 2a sedentary coelenterate of warm and tropical seas, with a calcareous, horny, or soft skeleton. Most corals are colonial and many rely on the presence of green algae in their tissues to obtain energy from sunlight.

  • Several orders in the class Anthozoa, including the ‘true’ or stony corals (order Scleractinia or Madreporaria), which form reefs, the soft corals (order Alcyonacea), and the horny corals (order Gorgonacea)

• 3the unfertilized roe of a lobster or scallop, which is used as food and becomes reddish when cooked.