vertebrate

[ vur-tuh-brit, -breyt ]

/ ˈvɜr tə brɪt, -ˌbreɪt /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for vertebrate on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having vertebrae; having a backbone or spinal column.

belonging or pertaining to the Vertebrata (or Craniata), a subphylum of chordate animals, comprising those having a brain enclosed in a skull or cranium and a segmented spinal column; a major taxonomic group that includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes.

noun

a vertebrate animal.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of vertebrate

First recorded in 1820–30, vertebrate is from the Latin word vertebrātus jointed. See vertebra, -ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM vertebrate

non·ver·te·brate, adjective, nounsub·ver·te·brate, noun, adjectiveun·ver·te·brate, adjective

Words nearby vertebrate

vertebra, vertebral, vertebral canal, vertebral column, Vertebrata, vertebrate, vertebrated, vertebrates, vertebration, vertebratus, vertex

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use vertebrate in a sentence

Indigenous lands in Canada, Brazil and Australia had similar, or slightly higher, levels of vertebrate diversity than non-Indigenous protected areas in the same countries.
Can people protect as much space as nature needs?|Jonathan Lambert|January 21, 2021|Science News For Students
“I don´t know of papers that have reported on traps built by spiders specifically for capturing vertebrates.”
These spiders may sew leaves into fake shelters to lure frogs to their doom|Jake Buehler|January 4, 2021|Science News
Converting these largely natural habitats, collectively about the size of India, would squeeze more than 17,000 vertebrate species from some of their lands, researchers report December 21 in Nature Sustainability.
Clearing land to feed a growing human population will threaten thousands of species|Jonathan Lambert|December 21, 2020|Science News
The researchers analyzed 14,000 vertebrate populations across the world and found that previously accepted worldwide declines in wildlife could be attributed to a few outlier populations.
Wildlife conservation works, and vertebrates have the numbers to prove it|Rachael Zisk|December 1, 2020|Popular-Science

Additionally, the group of biologists from the Natural History Museum in London found that frogs have the biggest eyes of any vertebrate animal in relation to their body size.
What hundreds of pickled frog carcasses can tell us about their enormous eyes|María Paula Rubiano A.|October 1, 2020|Popular-Science
Then in the Cambrian era, around 570 million years ago, recognizably complex animal life evolved, including vertebrate ancestors.
Why Did It Take So Long For Complex Life To Evolve On Earth? Blame Oxygen.|Matthew R. Francis|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Some 28 percent of the vertebrate species red-listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature live there.
Is Rafael Correa the Next Hugo Chavez?|Mac Margolis|August 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It's so typical of everything we've seen of this semi-vertebrate.
Romney and Ryan and the Medicare Lies|Michael Tomasky|August 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Two other structures common to most of the vertebrate animals exist in man, though they render him little or no service.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
It is a plantigrade circumflex vertebrate bacterium that hasnt any wings and is uncertain.
A Horse's Tale|Mark Twain
Plantigrade circumflex vertebrate bacterium that hasnt any wings and is uncertain.
A Horse's Tale|Mark Twain
The vertebrate animals deserve more of our attention than other forms of life because man himself is a vertebrate.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
The illustration here given shows the effect of nicotine upon a fish, one of the vertebrate animals.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter

British Dictionary definitions for vertebrate

vertebrate

/ (ˈvɜːtɪˌbreɪt, -brɪt) /

noun

any chordate animal of the subphylum Vertebrata, characterized by a bony or cartilaginous skeleton and a well-developed brain: the group contains fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals

adjective

of, relating to, or belonging to the subphylum Vertebrata

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

Scientific definitions for vertebrate

vertebrate

[ vûr′tə-brĭt, -brāt′ ]

Any of a large group of chordates of the subphylum Vertebrata (or Craniata), characterized by having a backbone. Vertebrates are bilaterally symmetrical and have an internal skeleton of bone or cartilage, a nervous system divided into brain and spinal cord, and not more than two pairs of limbs. Vertebrates have a well-developed body cavity (called a coelom) containing a chambered heart, large digestive organs, liver, pancreas, and paired kidneys, and their blood contains both red and white corpuscles. Vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

vertebrate

Origin of vertebrate

OTHER WORDS FROM vertebrate

Words nearby vertebrate

Words related to vertebrate

How to use vertebrate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for vertebrate

Scientific definitions for vertebrate