lamprey

[ lam-pree ]

noun

, plural lam·preys.

1. any eellike marine or freshwater fish of the order Petromyzoniformes, having a circular, suctorial mouth with horny teeth for boring into the flesh of other fishes to feed on their blood.

lamprey

/ ˈlæmprɪ /

noun

1. See sea lamprey
   any eel-like cyclostome vertebrate of the family Petromyzonidae, having a round sucking mouth for clinging to and feeding on the blood of other animals Also calledlamper eel See also sea lamprey

Word History and Origins

Origin of lamprey¹

1250–1300; Middle English lampreye < Anglo-French *lampreie ( Old French lamproie ) < Late Latin lamprēda; replacing Old English lamprede < Medieval Latin lampreda

Word History and Origins

Origin of lamprey¹

C13: from Old French lamproie, from Late Latin lamprēda; origin obscure

Example Sentences

Of particular interest is the fact that lampreys can regrow their spinal cord, a trait which could be life changing if humans came from the same root.

From Popular-Science

It’s probably not a possibility you’d considered until now, but for more than a hundred years, evolutionary biologists suspected that the lamprey, a jawless, eel-shaped, blood-sucking fish, was the closest living model of the very first vertebrates.

From Popular-Science

It’s not clear why lampreys would have left the rich coastal water in the first place.

From Popular-Science

Margaret Docker, an expert on lamprey biology and genetics at the University of Manitoba, calls the findings “very exciting.”

From Popular-Science

Biologists had called the lamprey-as-ancestor theory into question before, but the problem rested on the sparse fossil record of lampreys.

From Popular-Science

A human lamprey, sticking himself always at the thin and meager board of the poor, a vile parasite, but holy!

From Project Gutenberg

But the lamprey has no trace of arm or leg, not even a bone or cartilage hidden under the skin.

From Project Gutenberg

And its ancestors never had any limbs at all, for the earliest lamprey embryo shows no traces of them.

From Project Gutenberg

The lamprey is not a fish at all, only a wicked imitation of one which can deceive nobody.

From Project Gutenberg

Anything from a dead lamprey or a bunch of sunfish eggs to a piece of tomato can is grateful to him.

From Project Gutenberg