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Glite Dictionary
lamprey eel

lamprey eel

8.3
A long fish without jaws with a round mouth that sucks blood from fish in rivers or seas
  • noun
  • /ˈlæmpri il/
translation icon : lamprea
  • You think of lamprey eels and leeches.

Examples

  • The fisherman caught a lamprey eel while fishing in the river.

  • In biology class, we learned that a lamprey eel has a unique sucking mouth.

  • The lamprey eel can be found in both freshwater lakes and coastal waters.

Synonyms

lamprey
vslamprey eel
9 9.0

A thin eel-like fish with no jaws that attaches to other fish to feed

is the same fish but the key phrase stresses eel-like body shape
sea lamprey
vslamprey eel
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A large fish without jaws that attaches to other fish and feeds on them

is the broader group covering many related jawless fishes not just this parasitic species
lamper eel
vslamprey eel
  • Archaic
9.9

A jawless eel-like fish that sticks to other fish using a round sucking mouth

is identical in meaning but the main name is more common and standard

Surface Forms

lamprey eel singular
lamprey eels plural

Morphology

lamprey + eel

Both constituents are concrete, literal nouns and the compound simply names a species combining those concepts: an eel that is a lamprey or lamprey-like. This meaning is directly derivable from knowing 'lamprey' and 'eel', and noun+noun species labels are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would understand it.

Etymology

Lamprey eel comes from old words that mean 'to lick'. People called the fish lamprey because its round, sucking mouth looks like it 'licks' or 'sucks' at rocks and other fish. That's why the name fits a jawless fish that sticks to other fish to feed.