chelicera

American  

[kuh-lis-er-uh] / kəˈlɪs ər ə /

noun

chelicerae plural

1. one member of the first pair of usually pincerlike appendages of spiders and other arachnids.

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chelicera British  

/ kɪˈlɪsərə /

noun

1. one of a pair of appendages on the head of spiders and other arachnids: often modified as food-catching claws

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cheliceral
  adjective
• chelicerate
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• chelicerae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chelicera

1825–35; < New Latin, equivalent to cheli- cheli- + Greek kér ( as ) horn + Latin -a feminine noun ending

Example Sentences

The most striking feature is the chelicera, a pincer-like appendage that defines chelicerates.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

It represents a transitional form, linking earlier Cambrian arthropods that seem to lack chelicera with later horseshoe crab-like species known as synziphosurines.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

"Claws are never in that location in a Cambrian arthropod," said Lerosey-Aubril, "It took me a few minutes to realize the obvious, I had just exposed the oldest chelicera ever found."

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

Despite the abundance of Cambrian fossils, no clear example of a chelicera from that period had been identified before.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

Falx, falks, n. a sickle-shaped part or process, as of the dura mater of the skull: a chelicera: a poison-fang of a snake: a rotula of a sea-urchin:—pl.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various