stickleback
[ stik-uhl-bak ]
/ ˈstɪk əlˌbæk /
Save This Word!
noun
any of the small, pugnacious, spiny-backed fishes of the family Gasterosteidae, inhabiting northern fresh waters and sea inlets, the male of which builds and guards the nest.
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!
Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.
Question 1 of 7
“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.
Meet Grammar Coach
Improve Your Writing
Also called prickleback.
Origin of stickleback
Words nearby stickleback
stick insect, stick-in-the-mud, stickit, stick it to someone, stickle, stickleback, stickler, Stickler syndrome, Stickley, stickman, stick-on
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for stickleback
British Dictionary definitions for stickleback
stickleback
/ (ˈstɪkəlˌbæk) /
noun
any small teleost fish of the family Gasterosteidae, such as Gasterosteus aculeatus (three-spined stickleback) of rivers and coastal regions and G. pungitius (ten-spined stickleback) confined to rivers. They have a series of spines along the back and occur in cold and temperate northern regions
Word Origin for stickleback
C15: from Old English stickel prick, sting + back 1
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