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Carnassial - 4 dictionary results

car⋅nas⋅si⋅al

   [kahr-nas-ee-uhl]
Zoology
–adjective
1. (of teeth) adapted for shearing flesh.
–noun
2. a carnassial tooth, esp. the last upper premolar or the first lower molar tooth of certain carnivores.
Origin:
1840–50; < F carnassi(er) flesh-eating (< Pr, equiv. to carnasse aug. deriv. of carn flesh, meat (< L carn-, s. of carō) + -ier -ary ) + -al 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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car·nas·si·al     (kär-nās'ē-əl)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.   Adapted for tearing apart flesh: carnassial teeth.
n.   A tooth adapted for tearing apart flesh, especially one of the last upper premolar or first lower molar teeth in carnivorous mammals.

[From French carnassier, carnivorous, from Provençal, from carnasso, meat in abundance, from carn, flesh, from Latin carō, carn-; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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carnassial

adjective
(of a tooth) adapted for shearing flesh; "the carnassial teeth of carnivores" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Carnassial

Car*nas"si*al\, a. [Cf. F. carnassier carnivorous, and L. caro, carnis, flesh.] (Anat.) Adapted to eating flesh. -- n. A carnassial tooth; especially, the last premolar in many carnivores.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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