Seal n.  Zool. Any aquatic carnivorous mammal of the families Phocidae and Otariidae.
 Note: ☞ Seals inhabit seacoasts, and are found principally in the higher latitudes of both hemispheres. There are numerous species, bearing such popular names as sea lion, sea leopard, sea bear, or ursine seal, fur seal, and sea elephant. The bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus), the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata), and the ringed seal (Phoca foetida), are northern species. See also Eared seal, Harp seal, Monk seal, and Fur seal, under Eared, Harp, Monk, and Fur. Seals are much hunted for their skins and fur, and also for their oil, which in some species is very abundant.
 Harbor seal Zool., the common seal (Phoca vitulina). It inhabits both the North Atlantic and the North Pacific Ocean, and often ascends rivers; -- called also marbled seal, native seal, river seal, bay seal, land seal, sea calf, sea cat, sea dog, dotard, ranger, selchie, tangfish.


 Harp n.
 1. A musical instrument consisting of a triangular frame furnished with strings and sometimes with pedals, held upright, and played with the fingers.
 2. Astron. A constellation; Lyra, or the Lyre.
 3. A grain sieve. [Scot.]
 Aeolian harp. See under Aeolian.
 Harp seal Zool., an arctic seal (Phoca Grœnlandica). The adult males have a light-colored body, with a harp-shaped mark of black on each side, and the face and throat black.  Called also saddler, and saddleback.  The immature ones are called bluesides; their fur is white, and they are killed and skinned to harvest the fur.
 Harp shell Zool., a beautiful marine gastropod shell of the genus Harpa, of several species, found in tropical seas. See Harpa.


 harp seal
      n : common arctic seal; the young are all white [syn: {Pagophilus
          groenlandicus]