Illustration of fur seal
fur seal
noun
: any of various eared seals that have a double coat with a dense soft underfur and were hunted especially formerly for their desirable pelts:
a
: a large seal (Callorhinus ursinus) of the northern Pacific Ocean having its main breeding rookery on Pribilof Island in the Bering Sea
called also northern fur seal
b
: any of a genus (Arctocephalus) of seals chiefly of the southern hemisphere
called also southern fur seal
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Among the highlights are the Marine Big Five—the Southern right whale, great white shark, Cape fur seal, African penguin and bottlenose dolphin. 
Jen Murphy, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2022 SeaWorld’s first Guadalupe fur seal rescue of the year happened Jan. 2 on a jetty at Tamarack in Carlsbad. Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2022 But the fur seal population continued to shrink, and as of 2021 had dropped to more than 70% below the 1970s levels. Anchorage Daily News, 10 Apr. 2022 Today, fur seal numbers are again in sharp decline, and the problem is not as simple as humans intentionally killing them. Nancy Lord, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Apr. 2022 While waiting offshore in a Zodiac, guide Russ Manning reported his first bite from a fur seal in 32 years of expeditions. David G. Molyneaux, cleveland, 25 Feb. 2022 Other factors that may have contributed to the plant growth in Antarctica are dwindling fur seal populations, reports New Scientist's Alex Wilkins. Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Feb. 2022 The particular kind of seal that’s been dying — the Cape fur seal — is thought to number around 2 million. Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2022 The Seaside Aquarium responded to a report at 11 a.m. Saturday that a Guadalupe fur seal was entangled at a beach in Arch Cape. oregonlive, 4 July 2021 See More
Jen Murphy, WSJ, 17 Aug. 2022 SeaWorld’s first Guadalupe fur seal rescue of the year happened Jan. 2 on a jetty at Tamarack in Carlsbad. Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2022 But the fur seal population continued to shrink, and as of 2021 had dropped to more than 70% below the 1970s levels. Anchorage Daily News, 10 Apr. 2022 Today, fur seal numbers are again in sharp decline, and the problem is not as simple as humans intentionally killing them. Nancy Lord, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Apr. 2022 While waiting offshore in a Zodiac, guide Russ Manning reported his first bite from a fur seal in 32 years of expeditions. David G. Molyneaux, cleveland, 25 Feb. 2022 Other factors that may have contributed to the plant growth in Antarctica are dwindling fur seal populations, reports New Scientist's Alex Wilkins. Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Feb. 2022 The particular kind of seal that’s been dying — the Cape fur seal — is thought to number around 2 million. Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2022 The Seaside Aquarium responded to a report at 11 a.m. Saturday that a Guadalupe fur seal was entangled at a beach in Arch Cape. oregonlive, 4 July 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1775, in the meaning defined above