clasper

American  

[klas-per, klah-sper] / ˈklæs pər, ˈklɑ spər /

noun

1. a person or thing that clasps.

2. (in insects, fishes, crustaceans, etc.) one of the modified, usually paired organs or parts by which the male clasps the female during copulation.

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Etymology

Origin of clasper

First recorded in 1545–55; clasp + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Sometimes the pair of appendages has not a merely tactile jointed ramus, but is converted into a claw or clasper.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various