lamprey

[ lam-pree ]

/ ˈlæm pri /

Save This Word!

noun, plural lam·preys.

any eellike marine or freshwater fish of the order Petromyzoniformes, having a circular, suctorial mouth with horny teeth for boring into the flesh of other fishes to feed on their blood.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also called lamprey eel, lamper eel.

Origin of lamprey

1250–1300; Middle English lampreye<Anglo-French *lampreie (Old French lamproie) <Late Latin lamprēda; replacing Old English lamprede<Medieval Latin lampreda

Words nearby lamprey

lamplight, lamplighter, lamp oil, lampoon, lamppost, lamprey, lamprophony, lamprophyre, lampshade, lamp shell, lamp standard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lamprey in a sentence

Of particular interest is the fact that lampreys can regrow their spinal cord, a trait which could be life changing if humans came from the same root.
These fossilized lamprey hatchlings disprove an age-old evolutionary theory|Philip Kiefer|March 11, 2021|Popular-Science
It’s probably not a possibility you’d considered until now, but for more than a hundred years, evolutionary biologists suspected that the lamprey, a jawless, eel-shaped, blood-sucking fish, was the closest living model of the very first vertebrates.
These fossilized lamprey hatchlings disprove an age-old evolutionary theory|Philip Kiefer|March 11, 2021|Popular-Science
It’s not clear why lampreys would have left the rich coastal water in the first place.
These fossilized lamprey hatchlings disprove an age-old evolutionary theory|Philip Kiefer|March 11, 2021|Popular-Science
Margaret Docker, an expert on lamprey biology and genetics at the University of Manitoba, calls the findings “very exciting.”
These fossilized lamprey hatchlings disprove an age-old evolutionary theory|Philip Kiefer|March 11, 2021|Popular-Science

Biologists had called the lamprey-as-ancestor theory into question before, but the problem rested on the sparse fossil record of lampreys.
These fossilized lamprey hatchlings disprove an age-old evolutionary theory|Philip Kiefer|March 11, 2021|Popular-Science
A human lamprey, sticking himself always at the thin and meager board of the poor, a vile parasite, but holy!
The Adventures of Kathlyn|Harold MacGrath
But the lamprey has no trace of arm or leg, not even a bone or cartilage hidden under the skin.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various
And its ancestors never had any limbs at all, for the earliest lamprey embryo shows no traces of them.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various
The lamprey is not a fish at all, only a wicked imitation of one which can deceive nobody.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various
Anything from a dead lamprey or a bunch of sunfish eggs to a piece of tomato can is grateful to him.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, July 1899|Various

British Dictionary definitions for lamprey

lamprey

/ (ˈlæmprɪ) /

noun

any eel-like cyclostome vertebrate of the family Petromyzonidae, having a round sucking mouth for clinging to and feeding on the blood of other animalsAlso called: lamper eel See also sea lamprey

Word Origin for lamprey

C13: from Old French lamproie, from Late Latin lamprēda; origin obscure

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