trepang

American  

[trih-pang] / trɪˈpæŋ /

noun

1. any of various holothurians or sea cucumbers, as Holothuria edulis, used as food in China.

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trepang British  

/ trɪˈpæŋ /

noun

1. Also called: bêche-de-mer.  any of various large sea cucumbers of tropical Oriental seas, the body walls of which are used as food by the Japanese and Chinese

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Etymology

Origin of trepang

1775–85; < Malay təripaŋ (spelling teripang ) < an unidentified source

Example Sentences

They are traditional Indonesian boats known as praus and they brought Muslim fishermen from the flourishing trading city of Makassar in search of trepang, or sea cucumbers.

From BBC • Jun. 24, 2014

Captain King, who had previously experienced the same feelings of ill-will in the natives of Vansittart Bay, attributed them to the periodical visits of the Malays during the season of the trepang fishery.

From Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 1 by Grey, George

Sea-cucumbers, as they are popularly called, are also known by the name of trepang and sea-slug.

From Harper's Young People, November 25, 1879 An Illustrated Weekly by Various

The trepang is a sort of sea-slug, which is dried and used by the Chinese to make soup.

From Mark Seaworth by Kingston, William Henry Giles

The chief exports are trepang, tortoise-shell, pearls, mother-of-pearl, and edible birds'-nests.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2 Amiel to Atrauli by Various