ossiferous

[ o-sif-er-uh s ]

/ ɒˈsɪf ər əs /

adjective

containing bones, especially fossil bones: ossiferous caves and rock beds.

Nearby words

Origin of ossiferous

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

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

Examples from the Web for ossiferous

The ossiferous breccia differs from the bone-caves only in form.
The World Before the Deluge|Louis Figuier
This bed was covered with "made ground" of an ossiferous and vegetable character.
Primitive Man|Louis Figuier
Next he took up the exploration of ossiferous caves; and he began this work with that of Brixham, in Windmill Hill.
Cornish Characters|S. Baring-Gould
Lying beneath this ossiferous sand, were several flint axes of human workmanship.
A Manual of the Antiquity of Man|J. P. MacLean

And to the pre-glacial era that geologist referred most of the ossiferous caves and fissures.
Prehistoric Man|W. L. H. Duckworth

British Dictionary definitions for ossiferous

ossiferous

/ (ɒˈsɪfərəs) /

adjective

geology containing or yielding bonesossiferous 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

Medicine definitions for ossiferous

ossiferous

[ ŏ-sĭf′ər-əs ]

adj.

Containing or producing bone.