belemnite
a conical fossil, several inches long, consisting of the internal calcareous rod of an extinct animal allied to the cuttlefish; a thunderstone.
Origin of belemnite
1Words Nearby belemnite
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use belemnite in a sentence
The very form of the belemnite at once suggests the notion of a dart or lance-head, which has gained for it its scientific name.
Falling in Love | Grant AllenIndeed, I have had two thunderbolts shown me at once, one of which was a large belemnite, and the other a modern Indian tomahawk.
Falling in Love | Grant AllenNo species of belemnite at present known agreeing with the description; it is supposed to have been taken from a broken specimen.
A Conchological Manual | George Brettingham SowerbyDe Montfort's figure of this genus appears as if it had been drawn from the nucleus of a belemnite.
A Conchological Manual | George Brettingham SowerbyAs a genus it holds a place intermediate between the Cuttle-fish and the belemnite.
The World Before the Deluge | Louis Figuier
British Dictionary definitions for belemnite
/ (ˈbɛləmˌnaɪt) /
any extinct marine cephalopod mollusc of the order Belemnoidea, related to the cuttlefish
the long pointed conical internal shell of any of these animals: a common Mesozoic fossil
Origin of belemnite
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for belemnite
[ bĕl′əm-nīt′ ]
Any of various extinct cephalopod mollusks of the order Belemnoidea that lived from the Triassic into the Tertiary Period. Belemnites had a large, cone-shaped internal shell with a complex structure that served as a support for muscles and as a hydrostatic device. Belemnites were closely related to the present-day squids and cuttlefishes.
The fossilized internal shell of one of these cephalopods. Belemnites are used as index fossils.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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