Defn: Any long, slender amphibian of the genus Siren or family Sirenidæ, destitute of hind legs and pelvis, and having permanent external gills as well as lungs. They inhabit the swamps, lagoons, and ditches of the Southern United States. The more common species (Siren lacertina) is dull lead-gray in color, and becames two feet long.
6. Etym: [F. sirène, properly, a siren in sense 1.] (Acoustics)
Defn: An instrument for producing musical tones and for ascertaining the number of sound waves or vibrations per second which produce a note of a given pitch. The sounds are produced by a perforated rotating disk or disks. A form with two disks operated by steam or highly compressed air is used sounding an alarm to vessels in fog. [Written also sirene, and syren.]
SIREN
Si"ren, a.
Defn: Of or pertaining to a siren; bewitching, like a siren; fascinating; alluring; as, a siren song.
SIRENE
Si*rene", n.
Defn: See Siren, 6.
SIRENIA
Si*re"ni*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL.] (Zoöl.)
Defn: An order of large aquatic herbivorous mammals, including the manatee, dugong, rytina, and several fossil genera.
Note: The hind limbs are either rudimentary or wanting, and the front ones are changed to paddles. They have horny plates on the front part of the jaws, and usually flat-crowned molar teeth. The stomach is complex and the intestine long, as in other herbivorous mammals. See Cetacea (b).