stickleback

American  

[stik-uhl-bak] / ˈstɪk əlˌbæk /

noun

1. any of the small, pugnacious, spiny-backed fishes of the family Gasterosteidae, inhabiting northern fresh waters and sea inlets, the male of which builds and guards the nest.

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stickleback British  

/ ˈstɪkəlˌbæk /

noun

1. any small teleost fish of the family Gasterosteidae, such as Gasterosteus aculeatus ( three-spined stickleback ) of rivers and coastal regions and G. pungitius ( ten-spined stickleback ) confined to rivers. They have a series of spines along the back and occur in cold and temperate northern regions

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Etymology

Origin of stickleback

1400–50; late Middle English stykylbak, equivalent to Old English sticol scaly + bæc back ¹