chelicera
Americannoun
noun
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Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of chelicera
1825–35; < New Latin, equivalent to cheli- cheli- + Greek kér ( as ) horn + Latin -a feminine noun ending
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
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
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
Most chelicerates ingest food using a preoral cavity formed by the chelicerae and pedipalps.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
In some species, like sea spiders, an additional pair of appendages, called ovigers, is present between the chelicerae and pedipalps.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
The photo shows a black, shiny scorpion with very large chelicerae, or pincers.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Positioned alongside the chelicerae, the shaft, called a hypostome, forms a tube for withdrawing blood.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 3, 2014
The chelicerae writhed, questing for prey, and the sphincter-maw spasmed, teeth clicking open and shut, searching for something to bite into.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
