chambered nautilus

American  

noun

1. nautilus.

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chambered nautilus British  

noun

1. another name for the pearly nautilus

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Etymology

Origin of chambered nautilus

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

“Probably the top predator would have been a cephalopod,” likely an ancestral relative of today’s chambered nautilus, with its intricate spiral shell.

From Scientific American

At the core of the house is an oak stairway resembling the interior of a chambered nautilus that links all three floors.

From New York Times

Like a tiny submarine, the chambered nautilus speeds through the ocean on little jets that it creates by sucking in water and spitting it out.

From New York Times

Spirals like the ones found within the chambered nautilus form a shape known as a logarithmic spiral, in which the gaps between each whorl are spaced incrementally farther apart in a precise mathematical manner.

From Washington Post

In one of the smaller eastern windows stands a chambered nautilus that was a gift from my friend Kyle Gann, the composer and musicologist.

From The New Yorker