MEANING
Organisms that drift in water and cannot swim strongly enough to overcome the currents carrying them.
Use it for
describing the drifting life of the sea; explaining a base of marine food webs; distinguishing drifters from strong-swimming animalsNames organisms carried mainly by currents rather than treating all marine life as active swimmers. Writing functions: Drifting aquatic life.
Words that belong together
- marine plankton
- plankton blooms
- plankton samples
On the page
The net collected plankton from the dark water beside the boat.
Fish gathered where currents concentrated the plankton.
Word forms
- Base
- plankton
Usage notes
Collective mass noun: plankton. Use plankton organisms or types of plankton for countable units. Register: technical. Commonness: common in nature writing and marine science (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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