lyrate
Americanadjective
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Botany. (of a pinnate leaf ) divided transversely into several lobes, the smallest at the base.
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Zoology. having the shape of a lyre, as the tail of certain birds.
adjective
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shaped like a lyre
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(of leaves) having a large terminal lobe and smaller lateral lobes
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lyrate
From the New Latin word lyrātus, dating back to 1750–60. See lyre, -ate 1
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.
Leaves: From the root, on long petioles, rounded or heart-shaped, scalloped-edged, often purplish; stem leaves variable, lance-shaped or lyrate, deeply cut, sessile.
From Wild Flowers An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors by Neltje Blanchan
Its horns are of the lyrate form, and its colour a bright rufous.
From Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found A Book of Zoology for Boys by William Harvey
The leaves of this species are six inches long, pale yellowish-green, lyrate, with obtuse and entire divisions: when fully developed, they somewhat resemble those of the oak, as implied by the name.
From The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Containing Full Descriptions of Nearly Eleven Hundred Species and Varietes; With Directions for Propagation, Culture and Use. by Fearing Burr
Rather tall; leaves somewhat fleshy, lyrate or pinnate, the divisions or leaflets crenate or cut-lobed, variable; heads small in a naked corymb; rays 6–12, conspicuous.—Wet grounds, N. Car. to S. Ill.,
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray
Pits are present in the forehead of the skull, and the horns are ringed for part of their length, with a compressed base, their form being often lyrate, but sometimes spiral.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various
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.
