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stickleback
[ stik-uhl-bak ]
/ ˈstɪk əlˌbæk /
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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.
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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. 2022
How to use stickleback in a sentence
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
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