Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various primitive elongated freshwater or anadromous fishes of the family Petromyzontidae, characteristically having a jawless sucking mouth with rasping teeth. Also called lamper eel.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A marsipobranchiate fish, of an elongated or eel-like form when adult. All the lampreys have a subinferior circular suctorial mouth, single median nostril, well-developed lateral eyes, and 7 pairs of lateral branchial apertures. They remain for a long time in the larval or ammocætiform condition, having then a longitudinal slit-like mouth and no eyes. The adults, by means of the circular mouth, attach themselves to stones and other objects; they also attack and adhere to fishes, eating their way into the interior of the body. They make a nest of stones, which are collected by means of the suctorial mouth. The species, about 20 in number, are mostly inhabitants of the temperate regions of the northern and southern hemispheres, and constitute the order Hyperoartia and family Petromyzontidæ, divided into from 4 to 8 genera. The largest is the sea-lamprey, Petromyzon marinus., sometimes attaining a length of about 3 feet. The best-known species of the northern hemisphere belong to the genera Petromyzon and Lampetra or Ammocætes, as the river-lamprey, or lampern, and the pride. See also cut under
basket .
Wiktionary
- n. Any long slender primitive eel-like freshwater and saltwater fish of the Petromyzontidae family, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth but no jaw.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) An eel-like marsipobranch of the genus Petromyzon, and allied genera; called also
lamprey eel andlamper eel . The lampreys have a round, sucking mouth, without jaws, but set with numerous minute teeth, and one to three larger teeth on the palate (seeIllust. of cyclostomi). There are seven small branchial openings on each side.
WordNet 3.0
- n. primitive eellike freshwater or anadromous cyclostome having round sucking mouth with a rasping tongue
Etymologies
- From Middle English laumprei, adopted from Old French lampreie (Modern lamproie), from Medieval Latin lampreda, possibly from Late Latin lampetra, from a combination of lambere ("lick") + petra ("stone"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English lamprei, from Old French lampreie, from Medieval Latin lamprēda. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The lamprey is the octopus, the devil-fish, of these waters, and there is, perhaps, no tragedy enacted here that equals that of one of these vampires slowly sucking the life out of a bass or a trout.”
“His death was caused, in the year 1135, by eating too much of the fish called lamprey, and he was buried in”
“Currently, the lamprey is a species of concern, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife”
“Your 'lamprey' was right on the money, and I agree with Donna as well - I feel the same way about that certain personage.”
“Lake Ontario is also plagued with invasive species, such as lamprey and zebra mussels.”
“One of the groups that really gets hit is the other kind of lamprey," Andrews said, adding that the northern brook, silver and American lamprey are three native species vulnerable to the effects of the chemical.”
“[Footnote 809: 'Perhaps a kind of lamprey' (White and Riddle's”
“Kem has risen through the Voidcorp ranks by latching on lamprey style to rising stars, then stepping aside when those careers faltered.”
“A worst-case scenario envisions [the monstrous fish] spreading "like a cancer cell," [said Cameron Davis, senior Great Lakes adviser to Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency], eventually dominating a fishery already damaged by zebra mussels, sea lamprey and other exotic pests ....”
Environmental Emergency: Asian Carp Breach Barrier To Great Lakes
“Local favorites include salt cod with crumbled corn-bread, lamprey in red wine, or papas de sarrabulho—a steaming black mash that involves the heart, lungs, liver and throat lining of a pig stewed in the animal's blood.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘lamprey’.
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fish list
lots and lots of fish, a piscatorial
wetdreamablet, agnathan, ahi, ahuru, ahuruhuru, albacore, albicore, alec, alewife, allice, allis, amberjack and 840 more...
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PECH - marine species
African cuttlefish, Alaska plaice, Alaska pollock, Alaska pollack, walleye pollock, alewife, gaspereau, river herring, sawbelly, allis shad, American angler, goosefish and 994 more...
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Open List: Prodigies of Ugliness
List name taken from the Swedish naturalist Carl Jakob Sundevall's characterization of the greater adjutant stork as a "prodigy of ugliness". This list could include man-made things like cities, a...
elephant man, humphead parrotfish, naked mole rat, warthog, rust belt, international style, cellular phone to..., suburbs, anglerfish, lamprey, Michael Jackson's..., strip malls and 17 more...
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Things from my memory
nigger baby, mexican jumping bean, puddle jumper, mood ring, pet rock, cat scratch fever, taxman, hippie, vaseline, argyrol, mercurchrome, methiolade and 655 more...
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minneapolitan's Words
hissyfit, fussbudget, aghast, lament, trichinellosis, tranche, decadent, aspersion, pejorative, aniline, galoshes, accede and 200 more...
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hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
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theastic's Words
cellar, stalemate, wrought, opal, tyrant, squelch, squab, linen, tartan, paisley, scope, siren and 395 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Spelling Bee list 2011
Abalone, ablution, absolution, aboriginally, abstemious, academician, acclamation, accommodation, acculturation, acetic, acetone, acme and 590 more...
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spamdad's Words
lambic, weizenbock, bock, zymurgy, vade mecum, quotidian, sesquipedalian, eremite, sphragis, privation, aegis, sui generis and 275 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3250 more...
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gorgonglare's list
the best
zeppelin, ion, laconic, serendipity, cataract, saturnine, syzygy, cinnabar, bistro, lithium, paroxysm, scion and 694 more...
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Critters
cockle, cicada, appaloosa, brachiopod, bivalve, aye-aye, cygnet, alewife, chamois, ermine, drake, dugong and 381 more...
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Michele's Words
effluvia, fetid, turgid, besmirched, torpor, spanner, dodgy, fistula, bombastic, swarthy, hirsute, palpable and 63 more...
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Animal Crackers
camel, dromedary, cabbit, doglet, wren, lynx, ermine, capybara, magpie, mallard, heron, loach and 33 more...
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trout, trout, trout!
fish that are fun to say
trout, gar, walleye, mooneye, arctic char, sockeye salmon, chum, freshwater drum, three-spine stick..., eel, waccamaw killfish, shad and 22 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for lamprey.
hernesheir argoseen May 26, 2011
sionnach Silly hobbitses, "lamprey" is just another name for grass. Mar 25, 2009
yarb Argh! So ugly it defies contemplation except in the abstract. Feb 18, 2008
treeseed yarb, read up on the hagfish, its cousin...nightmarish Feb 18, 2008
yarb A nightmarish creature. Feb 18, 2008