Reef
noun
A part of the sea where there are rocks or coral under the water.
She dove to explore the coral reef.
Often appears as...
- coral reef
- barrier reef
noun
A strip or ridge of rocks, sand, or coral that rises to or near the surface of a body of water.
The ship crashed onto a reef.
Often appears as...
- coral reef
- sand reef
noun
In sailing, to reef means to reduce the area of a boat's sail.
As the wind rose, they had to reef the sails.
Often appears as...
- reef the sails
- double reef
Usage tips
Technical
verb
To reduce the size of (a sail) by folding or rolling a portion.
The skipper called out to reef in the sails as the storm approached.
Often appears as...
- reef the sails
- reef in
Usage tips
Technical
noun
A part of the sea where there are rocks or coral under the water.
She dove to explore the coral reef.
Often appears as...
- coral reef
- barrier reef
noun
A strip or ridge of rocks, sand, or coral that rises to or near the surface of a body of water.
The ship crashed onto a reef.
Often appears as...
- coral reef
- sand reef
noun
In sailing, to reef means to reduce the area of a boat's sail.
As the wind rose, they had to reef the sails.
Often appears as...
- reef the sails
- double reef
Usage tips
Technical
verb
To reduce the size of (a sail) by folding or rolling a portion.
The skipper called out to reef in the sails as the storm approached.
Often appears as...
- reef the sails
- reef in
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/2Environmental Significance
Reefs are vital ecosystems; mentioning reefs often brings up environmental topics or concerns.
The marine biologists discussed the reef's role in coastal protection.
Pro Tip 2/2Recreation Areas
Reefs are popular for recreational activities like diving and snorkeling, which might be implied in context.
We planned a snorkeling trip to the Great Barrier Reef.
Pro Tip 1/2Environmental Significance
Reefs are vital ecosystems; mentioning reefs often brings up environmental topics or concerns.
The marine biologists discussed the reef's role in coastal protection.
Pro Tip 2/2Recreation Areas
Reefs are popular for recreational activities like diving and snorkeling, which might be implied in context.
We planned a snorkeling trip to the Great Barrier Reef.
Pro Tip 1/2Environmental Significance
Reefs are vital ecosystems; mentioning reefs often brings up environmental topics or concerns.
The marine biologists discussed the reef's role in coastal protection.
Pro Tip 2/2Recreation Areas
Reefs are popular for recreational activities like diving and snorkeling, which might be implied in context.
We planned a snorkeling trip to the Great Barrier Reef.
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Video examples
Richard Pyle: Exploring...
And the second thing I learned was that I knew, with profound certainty, that this is exactly what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I had to focus all my energies towards going to find new species of things down on deep coral reefs. When you think of a coral reef, this is what most people think these big, hard, elaborate corals,
Video examples
How One Community Saved...
It is a way of preserving the reef and dedicating ourselves to something else, They began to prefer transporting tourists because they knew they got paid well and they consumed less fuel. Besides, they were home early and that's what encouraged them to give up the fishing.
Video examples
How does a jellyfish...
Small agile fish use the jellies as moving reefs for protection, darting between tentacles without ever touching them. Nudibranchs, which are sea slugs covered in protective slime, can actually steal the jelly's defenses by eating the cnidocytes
Video examples
Can VR help create...
if I could bring the world everybody in this country to this particular reef and show them these volcanic vents I could change minds about climate change when people experience something directly they see it in a different light this
Video examples
What happens to our...
such as biodegradable caskets, urns that sprout trees, and burial suits that grow mushrooms. Eternal reefs take that concept to the depths of the ocean using a mixture of ashes and cement to create marine habitats for sea life.
Video examples
Why is biodiversity so...
The forest can stay resilient and recover from change. But that's not true in every case. In some environments, taking away just one important component can undermine the entire system. Take coral reefs, for instance.
Video examples
ONE HOUR Of Amazing...
the amount of marine life to be found in the hundred meters of the wreck of the yongala is truly staggering arguably it's a greater concentration of life than on any spot on the barrier reef itself
Video examples
Titan Triggerfish...
this sort of parental care may be surprising but it's vitally important they protect the next generation of reef helpers all the creatures here play their part
Video examples
Old Woman Is Master Sea...
They must still visit the surface to breathe. But they are beautifully adapted to life at sea hunting for fish around the island reefs.
Video examples
Cuttlefish Hypnotises...
triangle the custard of the richest coral reefs in the world
Video examples
Richard Pyle: Exploring...
And the second thing I learned was that I knew, with profound certainty, that this is exactly what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I had to focus all my energies towards going to find new species of things down on deep coral reefs. When you think of a coral reef, this is what most people think these big, hard, elaborate corals,
Video examples
How One Community Saved...
It is a way of preserving the reef and dedicating ourselves to something else, They began to prefer transporting tourists because they knew they got paid well and they consumed less fuel. Besides, they were home early and that's what encouraged them to give up the fishing.
Video examples
How does a jellyfish...
Small agile fish use the jellies as moving reefs for protection, darting between tentacles without ever touching them. Nudibranchs, which are sea slugs covered in protective slime, can actually steal the jelly's defenses by eating the cnidocytes
Video examples
Can VR help create...
if I could bring the world everybody in this country to this particular reef and show them these volcanic vents I could change minds about climate change when people experience something directly they see it in a different light this
Video examples
What happens to our...
such as biodegradable caskets, urns that sprout trees, and burial suits that grow mushrooms. Eternal reefs take that concept to the depths of the ocean using a mixture of ashes and cement to create marine habitats for sea life.
Video examples
Why is biodiversity so...
The forest can stay resilient and recover from change. But that's not true in every case. In some environments, taking away just one important component can undermine the entire system. Take coral reefs, for instance.
Video examples
ONE HOUR Of Amazing...
the amount of marine life to be found in the hundred meters of the wreck of the yongala is truly staggering arguably it's a greater concentration of life than on any spot on the barrier reef itself
Video examples
Titan Triggerfish...
this sort of parental care may be surprising but it's vitally important they protect the next generation of reef helpers all the creatures here play their part
Video examples
Old Woman Is Master Sea...
They must still visit the surface to breathe. But they are beautifully adapted to life at sea hunting for fish around the island reefs.
Video examples
Cuttlefish Hypnotises...
triangle the custard of the richest coral reefs in the world
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Tim Cahill
American Writer
I have no problem with the adventure travel movement. It makes better, more sensitive people. If you get people diving on a coral reef, they're going to become more respectful of the outdoors and more concerned with the threats that places like that face and they're going to care more about protecting them than they would have before.
Quote examples
Brian Skerry
American Photographer
Sharks don't particularly have a great interest in divers. It seemed that in a normal dive, I would jump in the water, and one or two gray reef sharks would swim in and kind of check me out - and then they would keep their distance. So they weren't particularly threatening or anything to be afraid of.
Quote examples
Honeysuckle Weeks
British Actress
The coral that grows at the edge of the reef is always the strongest and most colourful because it faces the greatest battering. It's the same if you're called Honeysuckle. I'd have had a totally different life if I'd been called Mary.
Quote examples
Jeff Goodell
American Author
What is likely to vanish - or be transformed beyond recognition - are many of the things we think of when we think of Australia: the barrier reef, the koalas, the sense of the country as a land of almost limitless natural resources.
Quote examples
Alexander Gould
American Actor
Practically the whole world depends on coral reefs, so if the coral reefs get all killed, then the ocean will start going out of whack, and if the ocean goes out of whack, something might happen on land.
Quote examples
Sheherazade Goldsmith
English Environmentalist
Coral reefs represent some of the world's most spectacular beauty spots, but they are also the foundation of marine life: without them many of the sea's most exquisite species will not survive.
Quote examples
Johan Rockstrom
Environmentalist
Managing forests, rivers, grasslands, and coral reefs in sustainable ways makes them more resilient and increases their ability to absorb greenhouse gases, which is good for business.
Quote examples
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Monacan Royalty
I am delighted to see that the issue of coral reefs is receiving the attention it deserves.
Quote examples
Sylvia Earle
American Scientist
Ice ages have come and gone. Coral reefs have persisted.
Quote examples
Navjot Singh Sidhu
Indian Entertainer
A fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef.
Quote examples
Tim Cahill
American Writer
I have no problem with the adventure travel movement. It makes better, more sensitive people. If you get people diving on a coral reef, they're going to become more respectful of the outdoors and more concerned with the threats that places like that face and they're going to care more about protecting them than they would have before.
Quote examples
Brian Skerry
American Photographer
Sharks don't particularly have a great interest in divers. It seemed that in a normal dive, I would jump in the water, and one or two gray reef sharks would swim in and kind of check me out - and then they would keep their distance. So they weren't particularly threatening or anything to be afraid of.
Quote examples
Honeysuckle Weeks
British Actress
The coral that grows at the edge of the reef is always the strongest and most colourful because it faces the greatest battering. It's the same if you're called Honeysuckle. I'd have had a totally different life if I'd been called Mary.
Quote examples
Jeff Goodell
American Author
What is likely to vanish - or be transformed beyond recognition - are many of the things we think of when we think of Australia: the barrier reef, the koalas, the sense of the country as a land of almost limitless natural resources.
Quote examples
Alexander Gould
American Actor
Practically the whole world depends on coral reefs, so if the coral reefs get all killed, then the ocean will start going out of whack, and if the ocean goes out of whack, something might happen on land.
Quote examples
Sheherazade Goldsmith
English Environmentalist
Coral reefs represent some of the world's most spectacular beauty spots, but they are also the foundation of marine life: without them many of the sea's most exquisite species will not survive.
Quote examples
Johan Rockstrom
Environmentalist
Managing forests, rivers, grasslands, and coral reefs in sustainable ways makes them more resilient and increases their ability to absorb greenhouse gases, which is good for business.
Quote examples
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Monacan Royalty
I am delighted to see that the issue of coral reefs is receiving the attention it deserves.
Quote examples
Sylvia Earle
American Scientist
Ice ages have come and gone. Coral reefs have persisted.
Quote examples
Navjot Singh Sidhu
Indian Entertainer
A fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef.
Example 1 of 10
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