suborder

[suhb-awr-der]

noun Biology.

a category of related families within an order.

Origin of suborder

First recorded in 1820–30; sub- + order

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for suborder

Contemporary Examples of suborder

If you like mammal species from the suborder Vermilingua (meaning "worm tongue")...
The March Madness Teams to Cheer If Yours Got Bounced
Ben Teitelbaum
March 16, 2014

Historical Examples of suborder

Pteropods, a suborder of the gastropods, appeared in this age.
The Elements of Geology
William Harmon Norton
The suborder Prunoidea comprises those Spumellaria in which the fenestrated spherical shell appears prolonged into one axis.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia)
Ernst Haeckel
This suborder comprises three small but very different families, the Astrolophida, Litholophida, and Chiastolida.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia)
Ernst Haeckel
They are specially characteristic of the suborder Acanthodii.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds
The suborder includes the Lizards, Chamaeleons and Amphisbaenians.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for suborder

suborder

noun

biology a taxonomic group that is a subdivision of an order

Derived Formssubordinal, adjective

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

suborder in Medicine

suborder

[sŭb′ôr′dər]

A taxonomic category ranking between an order and a family.

suborder in Science

suborder

[sŭb′ôr′dər]

A taxonomic category of related organisms ranking below an order and containing one or more families.