chimaera
any fish of the family Chimaeridae, the male of which has a spiny clasping organ over the mouth.
any similar fish of the group Holocephali, which includes this family.
Origin of chimaera
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use chimaera in a sentence
The foreground of the scene had grown funereally dark, and near objects put on the hues and shapes of chimaeras.
Jude the Obscure | Thomas HardyIt seemed to her, at intervals, that she was entering the land of chimaeras; she said to herself: "Is this reality?"
Les Misrables | Victor HugoTo draw chimaeras is not, properly speaking, to copy or imitate.
The Illustrated London Reading Book | Various
British Dictionary definitions for chimaera
/ (kaɪˈmɪərə, kɪ-) /
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)
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
Browse