The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
n. A sea cucumber of the genus Holothuria of the southern Pacific and Indian oceans, dried or smoked for use as an ingredient in soup, especially in China and Indonesia. Also called bêche-de-mer.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. Any one of several species of large holothurians, some of which are dried and extensively used as food in China; -- called also bêche de mer, sea cucumber, and sea slug.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A kind of edible holothurian, as Holothuria edulis; a sea-slug, sea-cucumber, sea-pudding, or bêche-de-mer; also, such holothurians as a commercial product prepared for food.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. of warm coasts from Australia to Asia; used as food especially by Chinese
Word Usage
"The trepang is a sort of sea-slug, which is dried and used by the Chinese to make soup."