radula

American  

[raj-oo-luh] / ˈrædʒ ʊ lə /

noun

plural

radulae

1. a chitinous band in the mouth of most mollusks, set with numerous, minute, horny teeth and drawn backward and forward over the floor of the mouth in the process of breaking up food.

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radula British  

/ ˈrædjʊlə /

noun

1. a horny tooth-bearing strip on the tongue of molluscs that is used for rasping food

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Other Word Forms

• radular adjective
• subradular adjective

Etymology

Origin of radula

1745–55; < New Latin rādula, Latin: scraper, equivalent to rād ( ere ) to scrape, rub + -ula -ule

Example Sentences

The scans uncovered a radula, a ribbon-like feeding organ lined with rows of tiny teeth that is found in molluscs.

From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026

The existence of Typhloesus’s toothy radula led the scientists to deduce that the alien goldfish was in fact a mollusk.

From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2022

These animals have a radula modified for scraping.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

The morphology of the jaws and radula suggests that ammonites fed on small marine invertebrates—indeed, tiny crustaceans and snail-like gastropods were found among the jaws of one specimen.

From Science Magazine • Jan. 6, 2011

It knows too much to risk having its radula, or tongue, nipped off by putting it between the partly-open valves of the dying cockle.

From Beautiful Shells of New Zealand An Illustrated Work for Amateur Collectors of New Zealand Marine Shells, with Directions for Collecting and Cleaning them by Moss, E. G. B.