Lexic.us

Definition of Lamprey

1. Noun. Primitive eellike freshwater or anadromous cyclostome having round sucking mouth with a rasping tongue.

Definition of Lamprey

1. n. An eel-like marsipobranch of the genus Petromyzon, and allied genera. The lampreys have a round, sucking mouth, without jaws, but set with numerous minute teeth, and one to three larger teeth on the palate (see Illust. of Cyclostomi). There are seven small branchial openings on each side.

Definition of Lamprey

1. Noun. Any long slender primitive eel-like freshwater and saltwater fish of the ''Petromyzontidae'' family, having a sucking mouth with rasping teeth but no jaw. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Lamprey

1. an eellike fish [n -PREYS]

Medical Definition of Lamprey

1. An eel-like marsipobranch of the genus Petromyzon, and allied genera. The lampreys have a round, sucking mouth, without jaws, but set with numerous minute teeth, and one to three larger teeth on the palate. There are seven small branchial openings on each side. The common or sea lamprey of America and Europe (Petromyzon marinus), which in spring ascends rivers to spawn, is considered excellent food by many, and is sold as a market fish in some localities. The smaller river lampreys mostly belong to the genus Ammocoeles, or Lampetra, as A. Fluviatilis, of Europe, and A. Aepypterus of America. All lampreys attach themselves to other fishes, as parasites, by means of the suckerlike mouth. Alternative forms: lamper eel, lamprel, and lampron. Origin: OE. Lampreie, F. Lamproie, LL. Lampreda, lampetra, from L. Lambere to lick + petra rock, stone. The lampreys are so called because they attach themselves with their circular mouths to rocks and stones, whence they are also called rocksuckers. See Lap to drink, Petrify. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Lamprey

Literary usage of Lamprey

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. College zoology by Robert William Hegner (1918)
"THE lamprey — PETROMYZON Petromyzon marinus, the sea lamprey (Fig. ... In the spring the lamprey ascends the rivers to spawn. bucf External Features. ..."

2. Nature by Nature Publishing Group, Norman Lockyer (1883)
"Correlated with the perfectly suctorial Iowa- lip of the lamprey, which, is a post-oral structure, entirely, wa have the perfectest forin of the superficial ..."

3. A History of the Earth, and Animated Natureby Oliver Goldsmith, Washington Irving by Oliver Goldsmith, Washington Irving (1854)
"The lamprey known among us is differently estimated according to the season in ... There is a species of the lamprey served up as a great delicacy among the ..."

4. Journal of Anatomy and Physiology by Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1876)
"On examining the ventral surface of a lamprey a well- marked papilla is seen projecting from a shallow elliptical fossa. At the apex of this papilla a very ..."

5. Fishing in American Waters by Genio C. Scott (1869)
"The lamprey is highly esteemed for the table, and is therefore much sought after in the rivers where it is found. Like the eel, it ascends rivers in the ..."

6. Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire: A Record of by Ezra Scollay Stearns, William Frederick Whitcher, Edward Everett Parker, Lewis Publishing Company, Lewis publishing company, Chicago (1908)
"Maurice S. lamprey enlisted in the Tenth New Hampshire Volunteers, ... Austin L. and Clarence S. lamprey belonged respectively to the Thirteenth and the ..."

7. Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the by Royal Society (Great Britain) (1833)
"With respect to the respiration of the lamprey, the author observes, that it naturally differs from that of fishes in general; for whilst they are attached ..."

8. The Wilder Quarter-century Book: A Collection of Original Papers Dedicated (1893)
"Furthermore, in addition to the characters mentioned above as common to the sea and the lake lamprey, the determination that in the true marine lampreys ..."

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