phytoplankton

noun/ˌfaɪtoʊˈplæŋktən/

Frequency rank: #18,078 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

microscopic photosynthetic organisms that drift in water and form the base of aquatic food chains.

Illustration for the English word “phytoplankton”

Example sentence

Scientists discovered that phytoplankton levels in the ocean have dropped significantly over the past century.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 18,001–18,100