tunicate
Zoology. any sessile marine chordate of the subphylum Tunicata (Urochordata), having a saclike body enclosed in a thick membrane or tunic and two openings or siphons for the ingress and egress of water.
(especially of the Tunicata) having a tunic or covering.
of or relating to the tunicates.
Botany. having or consisting of a series of concentric layers, as a bulb.
Origin of tunicate
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tunicate in a sentence
The bulb is frequently as large as a human head, pear-shaped, and tunicated like the onion.
The American Flower Garden Directory | Thomas Hibbert
British Dictionary definitions for tunicate
/ (ˈtjuːnɪkɪt, -ˌkeɪt) /
any minute primitive marine chordate animal of the subphylum Tunicata (or Urochordata, Urochorda). The adults have a saclike unsegmented body enclosed in a cellulose-like outer covering (tunic) and only the larval forms have a notochord: includes the sea squirts: See also ascidian
of, relating to, or belonging to the subphylum Tunicata
(esp of a bulb) having or consisting of concentric layers of tissue
Origin of tunicate
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 tunicate
[ tōō′nĭ-kĭt ]
Any of various primitive marine chordate animals of the subphylum Tunicata, having a rounded or cylindrical body that is enclosed in a tough outer covering. Tunicates start out life as free-swimming, tadpolelike animals with a notochord (a primitive backbone), but many, such as the sea squirts, lose the notochord and most of their nervous system as adults and become fixed to rocks or other objects. Tunicates often form colonies.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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