chimaera

American  

[ki-meer-uh, kahy-] / kɪˈmɪər ə, kaɪ- /

noun

1. any fish of the family Chimaeridae, the male of which has a spiny clasping organ over the mouth.

2. any similar fish of the group Holocephali, which includes this family.

3. chimera.

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chimaera British  

/ kaɪˈmɪərə, kɪ- /

noun

1. any tapering smooth-skinned cartilaginous deep-sea fish of the subclass Holocephali (or Bradyodonti ), esp any of the genus Chimaera. They have a skull in which the upper jaw is fused to the cranium See also rabbitfish

2. Greek myth a variant spelling of chimera

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Etymology

Origin of chimaera

First recorded in 1795–1805; see origin at chimera

Example Sentences

Ghost sharks - also known as chimaera - are rarely spotted, and sightings of their young are even more uncommon.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2022

The special sperm storage area in brown chimaera females' reproductive tract is the same structure Finucci recently discovered in two other ghost shark species, which are sometimes called spookfish.

From National Geographic • Jun. 12, 2017

“On the video camera we saw a kind of chimaera that whizzed by – that’s very, very rare in Australian waters,” she said.

From The Guardian • May 31, 2017

Comparison of the structures of AR T4–lysozyme chimaera with that of the thermostabilized or antibody-bound ARs shows that fusion of the lysozyme distorts the cytoplasmic sides of TM5 and TM6.

From Nature • Feb. 13, 2013

Separateness of existence, according to such a view—which, after all, represents only the extreme logic of Pantheism—is, of course, a chimaera, and so, a fortiori, must separate volition be.

From Problems of Immanence: studies critical and constructive by Warschauer, Joseph