ossiferous

American

[o-sif-er-uhs] / ɒˈsɪf ər əs /

adjective

containing bones, especially fossil bones.

ossiferous caves and rock beds.

ossiferous British

/ ɒˈsɪfərəs /

adjective

geology containing or yielding bones

ossiferous caves

"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

Etymology

Origin of ossiferous

1815–25; < Latin ossi- (combining form of os ) bone + -ferous

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.

Its remains are found not only in Ireland but in Scotland and England, and on the Continent, where they occur in bogs, lacustrine deposits, brick-clay, and ossiferous caves.

From Project Gutenberg

Lying beneath this ossiferous sand, were several flint axes of human workmanship.

From Project Gutenberg

Besides the bear and hyena, upwards of a hundred species of extinct animals have been found in the ossiferous caves of Great Britain, among them being those of the elephant and a rhinoceros.

From Project Gutenberg

Brixham Cave, called also Windmill Hill Cavern, is a well-known ossiferous cave situated near Brixham, on the brow of a hill composed of Devonian limestone.

From Project Gutenberg

The fragments of egg-shells, imbedded in the ossiferous deposits, had escaped the notice of all previous naturalists.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023