devilfish Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun medium-sized greyish-black whale of the northern Pacific
    grey whale; Eschrichtius robustus; gray whale; Eschrichtius gibbosus.
  2. noun bottom-living cephalopod having a soft oval body with eight long tentacles
    octopus.
  3. noun extremely large pelagic tropical ray that feeds on plankton and small fishes; usually harmless but its size make it dangerous if harpooned
    manta ray; manta.

WordNet

Dev"il*fish` noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) (a) A huge ray (Manta birostris ∨ Cephaloptera vampyrus) of the Gulf of Mexico and Southern Atlantic coasts. Several other related species take the same name. See Cephaloptera. (b) A large cephalopod, especially the very large species of Octopus and Architeuthis. See Octopus. (c) The gray whale of the Pacific coast. See Gray whale. (d) The goosefish or angler (Lophius), and other allied fishes. See Angler.

Webster 1913