wingless

[ wing-lis ]

/ ˈwɪŋ lɪs /

adjective

having no wings.

having only rudimentary wings, as an apteryx.

Nearby words

winged pea, winged scapula, winged spindle tree, winged victory, winger, wingless, winglet, winglike, wingman, wingover, wings

Origin of wingless

First recorded in 1585–95; wing + -less

Related forms

wing·less·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wingless

When one designer randomly drew a picture of round, wingless birds with bushy eyebrows, they knew they had an idea.
The Week's Best Journalism|The Daily Beast|February 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Bacillus rosii is a brown, wingless form found in Italy and the south of France.
The Young Collector's Handbook of Ants, Bees, Dragon-flies, Earwigs, Crickets, and Flies|W. Harcourt Bath
On one of these leaves he placed a plant-louse, which was born under his own eyes, of a wingless mother.
The Insect World|Louis Figuier
We are old men trying to sing the loves of children; we are wingless bipeds trying to understand the gods.
Winds Of Doctrine|George Santayana

The Melophagus of the sheep is a wingless dipterous insect, like the Lipoptena of the stag.
Animal Parasites and Messmates|P. J. Van Beneden
Your case of the wingless insects near the Rocky Mountains is extremely curious.
More Letters of Charles Darwin|Charles Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for wingless

wingless

/ (ˈwɪŋlɪs) /

adjective

having no wings or vestigial wings

designating primitive insects of the subclass Apterygota, characterized by small size, lack of wings, and larvae resembling the adults: includes the springtails and bristletails

Derived Forms

winglessness, noun

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