nurse shark

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

nurse′ shark′, 

1. Fish any of several sharks of the family Orectolobidae, esp. Ginglymostoma cirratum, occurring in shallow waters from Rhode Island to Brazil and the Gulf of California to Ecuador.

• allegedly so called because the male habitually hangs on to the female's fin with his teeth 1850–55

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

nurse shark noun

1. any of various sharks of the family Orectolobidae, such as Ginglymostoma cirratum of the Atlantic Ocean, having an external groove on each side of the head between the mouth and nostril

Etymology: 15th Century: nusse fisshe (later influenced in spelling by nurse), perhaps from division of obsolete an huss shark, dogfish (of uncertain origin) as a nuss