spinose

American  

[spahy-nohs, spahy-nohs] / ˈspaɪ noʊs, spaɪˈnoʊs /

adjective

1. full of spines; spiniferous; spinous.

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spinose British  

/ spaɪˈnɒsɪtɪ, spaɪˈnəʊs, ˈspaɪnəʊs /

adjective

1. (esp of plants) bearing many spines

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Other Word Forms

• nonspinose
  adjective
• nonspinosely
  adverb
• nonspinosity
  noun
• spinosely
  adverb
• spinosity
  noun
• subspinose
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of spinose

From the Latin word spīnōsus, dating back to 1650–60. See spine, -ose ¹

Example Sentences

Cryptic morphologies and elaborate spinose ornament have evolved in step with these predation pressures, the most extreme example being represented by the giant pholidomeleons.

From Scientific American • Apr. 1, 2013

Philippine Archipelago; Island of Bohol; parasitic on a spinose crab, found under a stone at low water; single specimen, in Mus.,

From A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia With Figures of all the Species. by Darwin, Charles

Belonging to the order of fishes having spinose fins, as the perch.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah

Toes elongate, compressed, unequal, clawed; tail short, conical, tapering, depressed; with rings of large, broad, lozenge-shaped, dagger-pointed, spinose scales, with a central series of very broad 6-sided smooth scales beneath.

From Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1. With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea. by Stokes, John Lort

Involucral leaves 2–6, the outer smaller, the inner variously cut; perianth small, obconic or campanulate, 3-angled and 3-lobed only at the apex, the lobes usually spinose.

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 Gray, Asa