claspers
Britishplural noun
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a paired organ of male insects, used to clasp the female during copulation
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a paired organ of male sharks and related fish, used to assist the transfer of spermatozoa into the body of the female during copulation
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.
Spotted ratfish also use pelvic claspers for mating, similar to many other cartilaginous fish.
From Science Daily • Oct. 16, 2025
But apart from the denticles on their pelvic claspers, spotted ratfish are largely smooth-skinned.
From Science Daily • Oct. 16, 2025
The looks of claspers in horseshoe crabs helped Losso and her team verify that the Olenoides appendages were more than just malformed feet.
From Scientific American • Jun. 3, 2022
They use gripping appendages, called claspers, to hook themselves onto a female’s spines, giving males an inside track to fertilize the female’s eggs as soon as she releases them from a compartment in her head.
From New York Times • May 6, 2022
These limbs which we have been calling claspers are known by several other names.
From Butterflies and Moths (British) by Furneaux, William S.
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.
