nautilus

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nau·ti·lus / ˈnôtl-əs/ • n. (pl. nau·ti·lus·es or nau·ti·li / ˈnôtl-ī/ ) 1. a cephalopod mollusk with a light external spiral shell and numerous short tentacles around the mouth. Nautiluses swim with the buoyant gas-filled shell upright and descend to greater depths during the day. • Genus Nautilus, the only surviving genus of the subclass Nautiloidea: several species, in particular the common chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) of the Indo-Pacific, with a shell that is white with brownish bands on the outside and lined with mother-of-pearl on the inside. 2. (also paper nautilus) another term for argonaut.

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