cor·al /ˈkɔrəl, ˈkɑr-/
 珊瑚,珊瑚色


 Cor·al n.
 1. Zool. The hard parts or skeleton of various Anthozoa, and of a few Hydrozoa. Similar structures are also formed by some Bryozoa.
 Note: ☞ The large stony corals forming coral reefs belong to various genera of Madreporaria, and to the hydroid genus, Millepora. The red coral, used in jewelry, is the stony axis of the stem of a gorgonian (Corallium rubrum) found chiefly in the Mediterranean. The fan corals, plume corals, and sea feathers are species of Gorgoniacea, in which the axis is horny. Organ-pipe coral is formed by the genus Tubipora, an Alcyonarian, and black coral is in part the axis of species of the genus Antipathes. See Anthozoa, Madrepora.
 2. The ovaries of a cooked lobster; -- so called from their color.
 3. A piece of coral, usually fitted with small bells and other appurtenances, used by children as a plaything.
 Brain coral, or Brain stone coral. See under Brain.
 Chain coral. See under Chain.
 Coral animal Zool., one of the polyps by which corals are formed. They are often very erroneously called coral insects.
 Coral fish. See in the Vocabulary.
 Coral reefs Phys. Geog., reefs, often of great extent, made up chiefly of fragments of corals, coral sands, and the solid limestone resulting from their consolidation. They are classed as fringing reefs, when they border the land; barrier reefs, when separated from the shore by a broad belt of water; atolls, when they constitute separate islands, usually inclosing a lagoon. See Atoll.
 Coral root Bot., a genus (Corallorhiza) of orchideous plants, of a yellowish or brownish red color, parasitic on roots of other plants, and having curious jointed or knotted roots not unlike some kinds of coral. See Illust. under Coralloid.
 Coral snake. Zo (a) A small, venomous, Brazilian snake (Elaps corallinus), coral-red, with black bands. (b) A small, harmless, South American snake (Tortrix scytale).
 Coral tree Bot., a tropical, leguminous plant, of several species, with showy, scarlet blossoms and coral-red seeds. The best known is Erythrina Corallodendron.
 Coral wood, a hard, red cabinet wood. --McElrath.

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 coral
      adj : of a strong pink to yellowish-pink color
      n 1: a variable color averaging a deep pink
      2: the hard stony skeleton of a Mediterranean coral that has a
         delicate red or pink color and is used for jewelry [syn: {red
         coral, precious coral]
      3: unfertilized lobster roe; reddens in cooking; used as
         garnish or to color sauces
      4: marine colonial polyp characterized by a calcareous
         skeleton; masses in a variety of shapes often forming
         reefs


 Coral
    Heb. ramoth, meaning "heights;" i.e., "high-priced" or valuable
    things, or, as some suppose, "that which grows high," like a
    tree (Job 28:18; Ezek. 27:16), according to the Rabbins, red
    coral, which was in use for ornaments.

      The coral is a cretaceous marine product, the deposit by
    minute polypous animals of calcareous matter in cells in which
    the animal lives. It is of numberless shapes as it grows, but
    usually is branched like a tree. Great coral reefs and coral
    islands abound in the Red Sea, whence probably the Hebrews
    derived their knowledge of it. It is found of different colours,
    white, black, and red. The red, being esteemed the most
    precious, was used, as noticed above, for ornamental purposes.