cartilaginous

American  

[kahr-tl-aj-uh-nuhs] / ˌkɑr tlˈædʒ ə nəs /

adjective

1. of or resembling cartilage.

2. having a skeleton composed either entirely or mainly of cartilage, as vertebrates of the class Chondrichthyes, which includes the sharks, rays, and skates.

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Other Word Forms

• intercartilaginous adjective
• postcartilaginous adjective
• precartilaginous adjective
• pseudocartilaginous adjective

Etymology

Origin of cartilaginous

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin cartilāginōsus, equivalent to cartilāgin- (stem of cartilāgō ) cartilage + -ōsus -ous

Example Sentences

These unique molecules have not been observed in any other mammals, although they do exist in some cartilaginous fish.

From Science Daily

They belong to a group of cartilaginous fish known as chimaeras, which diverged from sharks millions of years ago.

From Science Daily

He is formless, almost faceless, a man whose countenance is a caricature, a man whose framework seems cartilaginous, without bones.

From Salon

With such robust evolutionary versatility, these cartilaginous fishes have survived not one, not two, but five mass extinctions in Earth's history.

From Salon

Once thought to exist only in bony vertebrates, these so-called synovial joints actually evolved in the much older ancestor of cartilaginous and bony fish, researchers reported earlier this month in a preprint on bioRxiv.

From Science Magazine