carnassial

[ kahr-nas-ee-uhl ]

/ kɑrˈnæs i əl /

Zoology

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adjective

(of teeth) adapted for shearing flesh.

noun

a carnassial tooth, especially the last upper premolar or the first lower molar tooth of certain carnivores.

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Origin of carnassial

1840–50; <French carnassi(er) flesh-eating (<Provençal, equivalent to carnasse augmentative derivative of carn flesh, meat (<Latin carn-, stem of carō) + -ier-ary) + -al¹

Words nearby carnassial

carnal knowledge, carnallite, Carnap, carnaroli, Carnarvon, carnassial, Carnatic, carnation, carnauba, Carné, Carneades

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use carnassial in a sentence

The second is strong and essentially carnassial; it is compressed laterally and obliquely placed.
Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon|Robert A. Sterndale
There is no carnassial tooth, and the teeth in other ways differ considerably from those of Carnivora vera.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds
In the Creodonta there are no specially differentiated carnassial teeth.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds
There is no special carnassial tooth, and the incisors are always fewer than 3/3.
The Vertebrate Skeleton|Sidney H. Reynolds

The carnassial tooth of the upper jaw has three lobes to the blade; that of the lower jaw is without an inner cusp.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard

British Dictionary definitions for carnassial

carnassial

/ (kɑːˈnæsɪəl) /

adjective

zoology of, relating to, or designating the last upper premolar and first lower molar teeth of carnivores, which have sharp edges for tearing flesh

noun

a carnassial tooth

Word Origin for carnassial

C19: from French carnassier meat-eating, from Provençal, from carnasso abundance of meat, from carn meat, flesh, from Latin carō

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

carnassial

Origin of carnassial

Words nearby carnassial

Words related to carnassial

How to use carnassial in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for carnassial

Word Origin for carnassial