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Glite Dictionary
jawless

jawless

1 7.2
An animal that does not have a jaw
  • adjective
  • /ˈdʒɔːləs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sin mandíbula
  • However, this reproductive mode is exhibited by some species of all vertebrate classes except the jawless fishes (agnathans) and the birds.
  • jawless fish

Examples

  • Lampreys, which are jawless fish that belong to the oldest living lineage of vertebrates, use only a handful of olfactory receptor genes.

    Academic text (2002)

  • And the jawless ones stretched liver-red tongues that lapped at the window pane.

    Outrageous! (1977)

  • Inside, padded with crumpled paper towels, is a jawless skull.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Instead, they leave together, dragging Michonne's armless, jawless pet zombies along.

    Blog text (4)

  • Illustrations (from bottom to top) depict the phylogeny of the splanchnocranium during the evolution of jawless vertebrates to mammals.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Lampreys are fascinating creatures because they are jawless and have unique feeding habits.

  • The jawless fish known as the hagfish can produce slime to evade predators.

  • Scientists study jawless species to understand the evolution of vertebrates.

Antonyms

jawed
  • Specialized
14 6.1

An animal with parts of the mouth that bite and chew

Compounds

jawless fish
  • Specialized
7.0

Fish like lampreys and hagfish that do not have jaws or paired fins

jawless vertebrate
  • Specialized
9.7

A long eel-like fish without jaws or paired fins

Surface Forms

jawless positive

Morphology

jawless = jaw (transparent) = jaw + less

The adjective is a regular formation from the noun 'jaw' plus the productive suffix '-less' meaning 'without', so the meaning is directly deducible.

Etymology

Jawless combines jaw and the ending -less, which means 'without', just like in hopeless. So jawless describes an animal 'without a jaw', for example the lamprey or hagfish.