spinose
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- nonspinose adjective
- nonspinosely adverb
- nonspinosity noun
- spinosely adverb
- spinosity noun
- subspinose adjective
Etymology
Origin of spinose
From the Latin word spīnōsus, dating back to 1650–60. See spine, -ose 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cryptic morphologies and elaborate spinose ornament have evolved in step with these predation pressures, the most extreme example being represented by the giant pholidomeleons.
From Scientific American • Apr. 1, 2013
Taking Mauritius alone, I do not call to mind a single species that is a spinose endemic tree or shrub.
From Darwinism (1889) by Wallace, Alfred Russel
Involucral leaves 2–6, the outer smaller, the inner variously cut; perianth small, obconic or campanulate, 3-angled and 3-lobed only at the apex, the lobes usually spinose.
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa
About a week later the eggs hatch into small spinose caterpillars which begin feeding upon the leaves near by.
From Butterflies Worth Knowing by Weed, Clarence M.
Thorax: fulvo-hyaline, with a dark fuscous border at the apex; the knees, tibiæ and tarsi reddish-yellow; the two latter spinose.
From Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society - Vol. 3 Zoology by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
