chelicerate

British

/ kɪˈlɪsəˌreɪt /

adjective

of, relating to, or belonging to the Chelicerata, a subphylum of arthropods, including arachnids and the horseshoe crab, in which the first pair of limbs are modified as chelicerae

"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

noun

any arthropod belonging to the Chelicerata

"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

chelicerate Scientific

/ kə-lĭs′ər-āt′,-ĭt /

Any of various, mostly terrestrial arthropods of the subphylum Chelicerata, having a body divided into two main parts: a cephalothorax and an abdomen. Chelicerates have specialized feeding appendages (chelicerae) and lack antennae. Chelicerates include the arachnids and merostomes (horseshoe crabs) and are closely related to the extinct trilobites.

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See Examples For:

chelicerate

More than 100,000 chelicerate species have been described.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

It is now recognized as the earliest known chelicerate, a group that includes spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026

The new specimen predates them by 20 million years, placing M. cousteaui near the base of the chelicerate lineage.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023