lamprey

[lam-pree]

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.

Origin of lamprey

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

Also called lamprey eel, lamper eel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lamprey

Historical Examples of lamprey

She is as transparent as a lamprey eel, then, or a youthful sardine?
Quo Vadis
Henryk Sienkiewicz
The lamprey was also with the Romans a pet fish: it is now rare.
Nooks and Corners of English Life, Past and Present
John Timbs
The striking peculiarity of the lamprey is its life-history.
The Origin of Vertebrates
Walter Holbrook Gaskell
Compare the life-history of the lamprey and of the tunicate.
The Origin of Vertebrates
Walter Holbrook Gaskell
In the lamprey the brain is more like that of the ordinary fish.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)
David Starr Jordan

British Dictionary definitions for lamprey

lamprey

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

Word Origin and History for lamprey

c.1300 (c.1200 as a surname?), from Old French lamproie, from Medieval Latin lampreda, from Late Latin lampetra "lamprey," of uncertain origin, usually explained as literally "lick-rock," from Latin lambere "to lick" (see lap (v.1)) + petra "rock" (see petrous). The animals attach themselves to things with their sucker-like mouths.