spawning

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“
In the female fish, a large number of ova are developed at a certain season of the year known as the spawning season.

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Definitions (1)

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  1. The act or process of emitting and fecundating spawn. It consists essentially in the emission by the female of her eggs, and by the male of his milt, in such a manner that they may come in contact with each other, and that the eggs may be placed in a position favorable to their development. The manner, time, and place in which this is performed vary with the species. Some kinds bury their eggs in sand or gravel; some attach them to weeds, sticks, or stones; some build nests of stones or other material; and others drop their eggs carelessly through the water. Fish spawn at all seasons of the year, every species having its appropriate time. Rapid streams, quiet lakes, and sea-bottoms are among the places of deposit. In some cases nests are constructed somewhat elaborately. With the laying of the eggs the care of the parents for their offspring generally ends. Not unfrequently both sire and dam immediately devour their yet unhatched descendants. A few species guard their eggs during incubation, and in some rare cases this care continues after the young fishes are hatched.

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Examples (50)

  • When salmon die after spawning, they return nutrients to freshwater systems. —  Top Stories - Google News
  • Consider two animals: animal A reproduces by spawning, and easily has 10,000 offspring. —  Slashdot: Apache
  • Upon spawning, I amused myself with amiable introductory banter in the main chat channel, remarking on how I had just registered the game, looking for a new MMO experience, and how I expected —  Waxy.org Links
  • The permissiveness toward lawbreaking assimilated in such bulk has created a witches 'brew of crime-spawning social —  VDARE.com - Latest Articles
  • Critics charge that suction dredging disrupts fish spawning, muddies river water and can hurt or kill aquatic organisms in the river bottom. —  Signs of the Times
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same contextWord Family

spawning:   spawn ·  spawned ·  spawns
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

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