operculum
Botany, Zoology. a part or organ serving as a lid or cover, as a covering flap on a seed vessel.
Zoology.
the gill cover of fishes and amphibians.
(in many gastropods) a horny plate that closes the opening of the shell when the animal is retracted.
Origin of operculum
1Other words from operculum
- o·per·cu·lar, adjective
Words Nearby operculum
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use operculum in a sentence
operculum semi-lunar, orange, with a projection which serves as a lock to keep the operculum in position.
Our British Snails | John William Horsleyoperculum made of plates rising one above another formed at different stages of growth.
Our British Snails | John William HorsleyThe operculum, like the shell itself, often exhibits distinct lines of growth which display the manner in which it was built up.
The Sea Shore | William S. FurneauxThese fishes generally have an air-bladder, and the gills lie close together in a cavity covered by an operculum.
The Sea Shore | William S. FurneauxThese are the bones connected with respiration—the operculum, the branchiostegal rays, the branchial arches, and others.
Form and Function | E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
British Dictionary definitions for operculum
/ (əʊˈpɜːkjʊləm) /
zoology
the hard bony flap covering the gill slits in fishes
the bony plate in certain gastropods covering the opening of the shell when the body is withdrawn
botany the covering of the spore-bearing capsule of a moss
biology any other covering or lid in various organisms
Origin of operculum
1Derived forms of operculum
- opercular or operculate (əʊˈpɜːkjʊlɪt, -ˌleɪt), adjective
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
Scientific definitions for operculum
[ ō-pûr′kyə-ləm ]
A lid or flap covering an opening, such as the gill cover in some fish or the horny flap covering the opening of a snail.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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