radula

American  

[raj-oo-luh] / ˈrædʒ ʊ lə /

noun

• radulae
  plural

1. a chitinous band in the mouth of most mollusks, set with numerous, minute, horny teeth and drawn backward and forward over the floor of the mouth in the process of breaking up food.

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radula British  

/ ˈrædjʊlə /

noun

1. a horny tooth-bearing strip on the tongue of molluscs that is used for rasping food

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• radular
  adjective
• subradular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• radulae
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of radula

1745–55; < New Latin rādula, Latin: scraper, equivalent to rād ( ere ) to scrape, rub + -ula -ule

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radula

The scans uncovered a radula, a ribbon-like feeding organ lined with rows of tiny teeth that is found in molluscs.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 7, 2026

These gelatinous slugs swim through the water column and stick their radula through a trunklike proboscis to snag prey, a hunting style similar to what the new study proposes for Typhloesus.

From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2022

These animals have a radula modified for scraping.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013

The morphology of the jaws and radula suggests that ammonites fed on small marine invertebrates—indeed, tiny crustaceans and snail-like gastropods were found among the jaws of one specimen.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 6, 2011

Shell external, spiral, generally ornamented with ribs; borders of aperture thin and not reflected; radula with square teeth; genital ducts without accessory organs.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

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