spinose

American  

[spahy-nohs, spahy-nohs] / ˈspaɪ noʊs, spaɪˈnoʊs /

adjective

1. full of spines; spiniferous; spinous.

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spinose British  

/ spaɪˈnɒsɪtɪ, spaɪˈnəʊs, ˈspaɪnəʊs /

adjective

1. (esp of plants) bearing many spines

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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

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

Toes elongate, compressed, unequal, clawed; tail short, conical, tapering, depressed; with rings of large, broad, lozenge-shaped, dagger-pointed, spinose scales, with a central series of very broad 6-sided smooth scales beneath.

From Discoveries in Australia, Volume 1. With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea. by Stokes, John Lort

Caudal Appendages.—I can only say that they are spinose on their summits.

From A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia With Figures of all the Species. by Darwin, Charles

Leaves mostly rigid and more or less 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

Filamentary appendages, none: labrum, with the upper part highly bullate: trophi, various: olfactory orifices, more or less prominent: caudal appendages, uniarticulate and spinose, or none.

From A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia With Figures of all the Species. by Darwin, Charles