'violet snail' definitions:
Definition of 'violet snail'
From: GCIDE
- Ianthina \I*an"thi*na\, n.; pl. L. Ianthin[ae], E. Ianthinas. [NL., fr. L. ianthinus violet-blue, Gr. ?; ? violet + ? flower.] (Zool.) Any gastropod of the genus Ianthina, of which various species are found living in mid ocean; -- called also {purple shell}, and violet snail. [Written also janthina.] [1913 Webster]
- Note: It floats at the surface by means of a raft, which it constructs by forming and uniting together air bubbles of hardened mucus. The Tyrian purple of the ancients was obtained in part from mollusks of this genus. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'violet snail'
From: GCIDE
- Violet \Vi"o*let\, a. [Cf. F. violet. See Violet, n.] Dark blue, inclining to red; bluish purple; having a color produced by red and blue combined. [1913 Webster]
- Violet shell (Zool.), any species of Ianthina; -- called also violet snail. See Ianthina.
- Violet wood, a name given to several kinds of hard purplish or reddish woods, as king wood, myall wood, and the wood of the Andira violacea, a tree of Guiana. [1913 Webster]