chimaera

[ ki-meer-uh, kahy- ]

noun
  1. any fish of the family Chimaeridae, the male of which has a spiny clasping organ over the mouth.

  2. any similar fish of the group Holocephali, which includes this family.

Origin of chimaera

1
First recorded in 1795–1805; see origin at chimera

Words Nearby chimaera

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chimaera in a sentence

  • That means that the chimaera crab was probably zooming through the water, chasing after whatever its eyes locked onto.

  • Next he catches up Gyas and the vast bulk of the chimaera; she gives way, without her steersman.

  • The teeth of chimaera are more adapted for cutting, those of Callorhynchus for crushing.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • Many extinct forms are known, some of whose teeth are intermediate in structure between those of chimaera and Callorhynchus.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • In chimaera all three basalia are present, but the meso-pterygium is shifted and does not articulate with the pectoral girdle.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • On came the chimaera, her serpent tail lashing the stones, but Bellerophon ever kept on the further side of a great tall rock.

British Dictionary definitions for chimaera

chimaera

/ (kaɪˈmɪərə, kɪ-) /


noun
  1. any tapering smooth-skinned cartilaginous deep-sea fish of the subclass Holocephali (or Bradyodonti), esp any of the genus Chimaera. They have a skull in which the upper jaw is fused to the cranium: See also rabbitfish (def. 1)

  2. Greek myth a variant spelling of chimera (def. 1)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012