foraminifer
any chiefly marine protozoan of the sarcodinian order Foraminifera, typically having a linear, spiral, or concentric shell perforated by small holes or pores through which pseudopodia extend.
Origin of foraminifer
1- Also called fo·ram·i·nif·er·an [fuh-ram-uh-nif-er-uhn], /fəˌræm əˈnɪf ər ən/, foram.
Other words from foraminifer
- fo·ram·i·nif·er·al, fo·ram·i·nif·er·ous, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use foraminifer in a sentence
The glauconitic grains of the Greensand formations are chiefly foraminiferal casts.
Chalk is well known to consist largely of foraminiferal shells, mostly vitreous, like the north Atlantic globigerina ooze.
They may accumulate in the mud of the bottom to constitute Foraminiferal ooze.
In this island the upraised reefs are based upon hard foraminiferal limestones.
The Solomon Islands and Their Natives | H. B. (Henry Brougham) Guppy
British Dictionary definitions for foraminifer
/ (ˌfɒrəˈmɪnɪfə) /
any marine protozoan of the phylum Foraminifera, having a shell with numerous openings through which cytoplasmic processes protrude: Often shortened to: foram See also globigerina, nummulite
Origin of foraminifer
1Derived forms of foraminifer
- foraminiferal (fɒˌræmɪˈnɪfərəl) or foraminiferous, adjective
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
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