lamprey
any eellike marine or freshwater fish of the order Petromyzoniformes, having a circular, suctorial mouth with horny teeth for boring into the flesh of other fishes to feed on their blood.
Origin of lamprey
1- Also called lamprey eel, lamper eel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use lamprey in a sentence
Salt Lampreys, cut in seven gobbets, pick out the backbones, serve with onions and galentine.
Early English Meals and Manners | VariousAnd first of all came the lampreys, but they hardly count as fishes, for they have yet to learn the first principles of fishiness.
But when the lampreys come up the April brook it is not to feed on fishes, nor is it to feed at all.
Look at that oblong panel in the centre—with the fiery serpents, which Ruskin finely compares to "winged lampreys."
The Travelling Companions | F. AnsteyLampreys are carnivorous creatures, and attach themselves to fishes by their suctorial mouths, and rasp away the flesh.
The Sea Shore | William S. Furneaux
British Dictionary definitions for lamprey
/ (ˈlæmprɪ) /
any eel-like cyclostome vertebrate of the family Petromyzonidae, having a round sucking mouth for clinging to and feeding on the blood of other animals: Also called: lamper eel See also sea lamprey
Origin of lamprey
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
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