gill slit
- noun
- /ɡɪl slɪt/
- Specialized
:
hendidura branquial
- The left edge of the photo shows two posterior gill slits.
Examples
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So if you're through clearing your gill slits, maybe you can tell us where we are.
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The salmon uses its gill slits to extract oxygen from the water as it swims upstream.
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That's easy to say when you don't have clogged gill slits.
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The longed-for electric tingle swept over my skin as legs became tail, skin became scales and fins, and gill-slits flared open.
Fiction book (1994) -
A serrated knife was used for removing the fins and tail, and for cutting behind the head and gill slits and forward of the pectoral fin.
Academic text (1997) -
As the fish opened its mouth, water flowed in and out through its gill slits for respiration.
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During the dive, I observed how the fish effortlessly passed water through its gill slits to breathe.
Synonyms
A narrow opening in a fish's throat where water passes for breathing
A slit in the throat of fish and other water animals that lets water pass for breathing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'gill' (breathing organ) + 'slit' (narrow opening) yields an opening associated with a gill. A B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer that a gill slit is a narrow opening related to the gill, and this noun–noun compounding pattern is cross-linguistically common.
Etymology
The name gill slit comes from the words gill (the breathing part of a fish) and slit (a narrow opening). It names the thin openings along a fish's head where water passes over the gills so the fish can 'breathe'.
