lamprey

views updated May 14 2018

lam·prey / ˈlamprē/ • n. (pl. -eys) an eellike aquatic jawless vertebrate (family Petromyzonidae) that has a sucker mouth with horny teeth and a rasping tongue. The adult is often parasitic, attaching itself to other fish and sucking their blood.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

lamprey

views updated May 18 2018

lamprey a surfeit of this as a food fish is traditionally said to have caused the death of Henry I, according to a contemporary account quoted by Fabyan's New Chronicles of England and France (1516).

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

lamprey

views updated May 18 2018

lamprey XIII. —OF. lampreie (mod. lamproie) :- medL. lamprēda (whence also OE. lamprede); poss. alt. of lampetra, expl. as f. lambere lick- + petra stone (with allusion to the lamprey attaching itself to stones). Cf. LIMPET.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

lamprey

views updated Jun 27 2018

lamprey See AMMOCOETE; PETROMYZONIDAE.

A Dictionary of Zoology MICHAEL ALLABY

lamprey

views updated Jun 11 2018

lamprey Eel-like, jawless vertebrate found in marine and fresh waters on both sides of the Atlantic. It feeds by attaching its mouth to fish and sucking their blood. Length: to 91cm (3ft). Family Petromyzondiae.

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